Several of the skippers towards the rear of the fleet appeared to have encountered stronger winds than initially forecast yesterday.  Derek Hatfield (Algimouss - Spirit of Canada) wrote yesterday afternoon to say the worst was over, but that he still had nasty seas to contend with.  As for Rich Wilson (Great American III), the succinct nature of the message would appear to reveal just how stormy it was.

"The weather files said 30/35 knots, 40 in some place, we had 45-55 knots gusting 62, for 16 hours. Came through. Now we have another low lining up behind us. That's all for today."

 

Today, Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) with his crickets covered the greatest distance towards the finish.  Currently in second place 43.6 miles from the leader, between 19h UTC  yesterday evening and this evening, he covered 439.1 miles.

 

"I just passed an iceberg less than 0.5nm on my Starboard side. Pos 51°24.7'S 61°59.04E @11h03 UTC  Size C2 - around 100m I think, big enough to show up on the radar easily. SO beautiful, intense blue at the base, gleaming white top, waves crashing off the sides, SO dangerous. I hope it's the only one."
Sam Davies in an e-mail this afternoon

In her latest video, Sam Davies throws a snowball at the camera.  She is still enjoying the race and clearly thinks the conditions in the southern seas are wonderful.  To watch this video, just click here and then choose Roxy.

 

"The storm has abated for now and it's time to deal with the left over sloppy seas that causes breakages if I'm not careful. The low is sitting right on top of me and the gate and prevents any good sailing. I still have to deal with the back side of the low and some headwinds later tonight and tomorrow and I'm definitely not feeling too lucky with this situation but it will pass as they say."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily message

 

Dominique Wavre was able to moor up his Temenos II in Morbihan Bay in the Kerguelen Islands today at around 12.30 UTC.  He was surprised to be greeted by a French TV film crew, who just happened to be present on the island. "All went well.  The people on site really helped me. The approaches were tricky. There was 25 knots of wind on the tail and just fifty or so metres around the  buoy to moor with sufficient depth. They were a great help in positioning the boat properly. It’s a bit of a change as the boat is now full of people, cameras and a soundman…”

 

"I'm at ease sailing downwind. I love the deep south.  Last night was very strange with small calm zones and then 37 knots of wind.  My rivals were more regular than me.  It's normal they narrowed the gap.  I wasn't sure what to do this morning as the wind eased off.  What sails should I have up?  We've got so many that it takes a lot of thinking about.  I decided to wait to see what would happen and I was right, because the wind has strengthened since then. This is a very close race.  It's going to be a battle all the way to the finish."

Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) talking to his shore team this morning.