"It was when I went to inform you of my passage through the Ice Gate that I realised I hadn' t been in contact for a long time.  Sorry about that.  For more than two days now, I've been in a fairly strong NW'ly flow. Initially the forecasts said ther would be 50-knot winds, but in the end it was around 30-35 knots. Cheminées Poujoulat is doing well. Some impressive surf, especially when I'm inside. The boat heels over slightly there is a sudden increase in speed to above 20 knots and she stays with the wave for 30 seconds or a minute in deafening din, before starting again. If I go on the attack, I go slightly off course, but she will stay with the wave for longer.  Most of the time under pilot. Just as well as if you wanted to be at the helm in these conditions, you'd need deep sea diver's gear.  I'm leaving the windward rudder down, in case the boat gets closer to the wind direction and heels over the other way, and that makes the helm quite sticky. I've been wondering all night whether I should gybe, if I could round the high by the north and catch up the others a bit more. But for the moment I'm continuing like this.  Apart from that it's dull, cold and wet and looks like it's going to be like that for a month. I almost forgot to say that Cheminées Poujoulat passed the number 1 Gate. I was to the north of the western mark on Friday 6th December at 15h35'37''UTC."
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)  in his message sent during the night.

 

Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve) today sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Over the past 24 hours, he covered 397 miles.  This evening, he is in 21st place, 1302 miles from the leader.  

 

“I had memories of the light and shade. It’s what I referred to at the time as the land of shadows, as you see virtually no sunshine. Here, everything is grey. Following on from that you play in the grey nuances: it’s a little grey, very grey, or rather a grey white fog... Now, you are in this atmosphere, your experience of it is black and white”. The air temperature is 8°C, and the water temperature is virtually identical.  This morning, I was in the cockpit and I saw a strange thing in the water… A big eddy…. I looked at it again and I saw a black back coming towards me. The creature was 30 metres from me, heading straight towards the aft of the boat. I said to myself, that’s it: it’s going to break my rudder! And then hup, it plunged beneath the water and I never saw it again. It didn’t just measure a few metres in length, it was a big 15/ 20 metre creature… Enormous… !”  
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) talking to his shore team today

 

"I am now in albatross country - not the really big wandering variety, the ones that are regular visitors to me have a black back, but they are still pretty big. I have always rushed to see them when they go scooting by at a distance. You can see their wings flexing with the weight of their bodies as they make some pretty dramatic but effortless turns to skim the waters surface and then soar up for a look round. Their flexing wings gives me some comfort regarding my flexing mast! When I had my snooze this morning I looked out of the door to see one looking in at me! He was flying behind the boat and having a good look inside, which was really quite something for me.

The whole place is awash with birds, dozens of them at any one time. With the exception of some pigeon-like birds which are small and plump, all of the sea birds here are of the racing snake variety - pointy wings and streamlined bodies. There are none of your fish and chip eating seaside gulls here, they are all serious flying machines! There are some all blacky brown birds with clown's eyes painted on in white that fight and squabble amongst themselves, but there are numerous other types too.

It also seems to be a haven for small squid, and there must be countless millions out there. This morning one was in the cockpit - I don't know how he got there. He was silver grey and about eight inches long. When I touched him he shrank back inside his mantle so only the ends of his tentacles were poking out and he looked very comical! He got sent back over the side. There were some others that had been washed into a rolled up sail at the back of the boat - one was no more, but the other two were OK and got put back over the side. They are obscure but beautiful creatures with their big eyes, but I'm not sure I'd like to meet a giant one though!"

Steve White (Toe in the Water) in his daily message

 

"Today’s conditions will favour me as I should continue to stay in the wind, whilst my friends will still be battling their way through the zone of high pressure. In theory however, I shall be doing the same thing in a few hours time with a considerable reduction in pace on the menu. After that, there may be a reversal of fortune as the wind direction may prove less favourable in my part of the world. Being the leader may be temporary but it’s already a very good thing to have got closer to the thick of the action and be able to tease my friends. The wind peaked at 35 knots and Gitana Eighty recorded a surf of 28 knots whilst I was in my bunk. It was a bit full on… With the wind on our tail, gybing under the cover of darkness in big seas, the scene depicted is never a comfortable one. In fact I broached on several occasions, one of which ripped off my Sat C aerial, which used to be at the rear of the cockpit"
Loïck Peyron (Gitana 80) talking to his shore team today

 

"Had 2 excitements in last 24hrs. Last night, at 0230z, with staysail and 2 reefs, hitting 22 knots (fast for this boat and very fast for this skipper!), decided to go to 3rd reef. Broad reaching, trying to do more quickly than my usual methodical self.  Ended up with a mess up against the mast, spreaders, rigging, eventually got halyard and tack right, but clew reef line #3 was wrapped around wrong side of sail, so needed to go out there. So out I go, back to the cockpit, not quite sorted, out I go again, and don't anybody send that picture to my mother, hanging off the end of the boom, pitch black dark of night, boat still going 18-20 knots in the surfs, and the skipper is out there. It's when you're glad of good autopilots."

"Today, trying to conserve amperes, turned off computer, network, inverter, monitor, between navigation sessions, back to cockpit, and then alarms sounding, pilot alarms, leap to the tiller, but its still steering, but on compass, not wind. What's up? Turn off, hand steer, wait for a calmer patch, leap below, turn off instruments, back to tiller, minute later back to turn on instruments, back to compass pilot. OK, then notice no wind speed. Look aloft. Anemometer still there spinning, and that's a long way up there. Can switch to backup, but can't get past thought that turning off the inverter had something to do with it, too. Coincidental, within 30 seconds, after a while, windspeed reappeared, for about 3 minutes, then off again, then 20 minutes later, on again for 5 minutes, then off, then came on again and has stayed on for 3 hours straight. There is so much electronics going on in such a small space that maybe it was a big software glitch. Let's fervently hope so. Anyway, still on compass pilot, not quite daring to use wind quite yet, but rocketing along nonetheless."

Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message.