"What an amazing day yesterday! The wind was established between 35 and 40 knots all day, with gusts of 45. The waves were mountains, and Roxy was hooning along, on the edge of control! I wanted to push quite hard to gain some miles with the weather system towards the security gate. The waves were so impressively scary that I tried not to look at them. That way I wouldn't chicken out and reduce sail too much! Anyway, it is better to keep going fast in these big seas so that Roxy does not get overpowered by a breaking wave.  As night fell, the wind started to shift and I had to gybe in the pitch black, with the huge waves. It was quite an adrenalin buzz to control Roxy in those conditions, working out in the cockpit as she screams along at 25 knots. This morning, it has been full-on. The wind has been easing, and I was planning a day of tidying and preparing Roxy for the next storm. Just as my porridge was ready to eat, there was a bit of  a lurch and a bang. I looked out and saw that the starboard rudder had kicked up - we had obviously hit something. Then I realised that instead of 14-15 knots we were doing just 8! I rolled the solent and quickly got the endoscope out to check under the boat. I couldn't see the keel because there  was a  huge packet of seaweed wrapped around it. We had literally "parked up" in a big pile of sea-weed. The rudder was the first priority. I found myself in the scoop at the back of Roxy, tools in hands, practically underwater, as because we were going so slowly the huge waves were breaking into the scoop. So, after a bit of a "pit-stop" I got Roxy off again, re-stacked, gybed ,shook out 2 reefs, and set the headsails. Totally knackered and a messy cockpit with ropes everywhere! And, on top of that - cold porridge..."
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message

 

"Hi there.  My night message is actually my day message, as from 20H30 TU it has been light on board Foncia. There's a moon out and the skies were covered in stars as there were just a few clouds on the horizon.  The moon came out,  a full moon, firstly orange, then yellow, lighting up the waves.  With 30 knots of wind you could already see the white tops.  It lasted for ten minutes, but it was a magical moment.  A little moment to savour.  Tried to get some sleep in the bunk, but it was moving around too much, so I tried the pouffe and fell asleep.  It's nice to be able to say that I'm sleeping when others are working.  Hope that doesn't upset anyone."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his message received during the night

 

"Hi there! During the night something got caught up in the keel. I thought first of all it was a piece of rope or a mooring cable.  I stopped the boat and went backwards and it came away!  An hour later and it happened again. I zig-zagged with the boat and set off again.  I think it must have been weed.  Apart from that the Véranda is gliding along ahead of the next low-pressure system that should take us along quickly to the Australian gate. "
Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) in his daily message

 

Over the past 24 hours, it is Sébastien Josse (BT), who covered the greatest distance towards the finish. Between 19h yesterday evening and this evening, Sébastien currently in 5th place, 78.1 miles from the leader, covered 442.5 miles

 

Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) on today's radio session: «I have had some small electrical problems, but now they are solved.  Everything is fine on board.  the worst was three days ago with 45 knots. But it was the sea state that really poses the problem. I have been talking with Raphaël Dinelli this morning, as he's within fifty miles, and you could say we're sailing along together, which is good.»

"It's a bit like a dream this morning. A short respite before the next big blow. The first went over yesterday evening; I had 55 knots at times. The boat did really well, but I found it really hard. I'm taking advantage of the calmer conditions to tidy up the boat and clean up.  I've been talking on the phone with Brian, Jonny and Arnaud.  There's a real camaraderie between us."
Dee Caffari during today's radio session