Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, the leader, currently 12,821 miles from the finish, covered 422 miles.

 

"Another day of 35 knot winds and high speed down wind sailing. The high pressure system above me is starting to take hold and I am thinking about a jibe to the south although the angle to get around Kerguelen Island won't be great. There is a fishing fleet here at well that needs some attention as they use long lines with traps so not to messed around with for sure. The captian of the fleet is kind enough to send us reports of the boats in the area so that we can give them a wide berth. It's very cold outside right now with rain and drizzle making conditions on deck very unpleasant. All for now."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily message

 

Rich Wilson's update today says;

46/46/s 68/46E 1349 UTC 12/18/2008, 10 knots, staysail and 3 reefs in the
main, 28-34knots wind, WNW, making E course.

Were at 2 reefs and solent for a while, then rocketed off too many waves at
high speed, buried bow, loading up rigging too much for my comfort level,
so backed off, first to 3rd reef, then to staysail when wind got up
further. Crossed the corner of the 1000meter plateau north of Kerguelen.
When we crossed the 2000 meter line, could see a distinct change in the
color of the water, oddly, almost tropical, or at least a lot more tropical
than the typical Indian Ocean gray for water and sky.

Last night, got out the Star Book to begin my reeducation in southern
Hemisphere stars. The book was written by H.A. Rey of Curious George fame,
and it is fantastic, with the mythologies of the stars and constellations,
I highly recommend it. Found my favorite star here, Alpha Centauri, mostly
because the name just rolls off your lips in a most fantastic way...Alpha
Centauri, sounds magical.

Sea is pretty choppy here on the plateau, pilot is working hard, and it
will be good to get over it,not sure if cutting the corner was worth it, as
we've had to slow for the confused seas.

Devastated to hear of Yann Elies broken leg. Saw him the day before the
start in Les Sables d'Olonne, riding his bike, standing on the pedals, with
his daughter on the seat behind him. Kind as always, he rode over and
introduced his daughter to me.

"Just to let you know that I passed the longitude of the Kerguelens at approx 0400 UTC. I was wall to the north and I have to say I am very happy to finally have cleared the islands.  It seems like I have been looking at them for a very very long time!  At least now I can move on to the east and towards home. We had a great nights sailing, fast with good waves for the first time.  The breeze has increased to 30 knots this morning, but the sea is still behaving and we are making some good progress.  Spent most of yesterday fixing the watermakers again – I was down to 3 litres, so things were desperate.  I have now made about 15 litres and adapted the water feed.  They seem to be working much better now, so fingers crossed. Onwards now to the next ice gate, and Christmas under Australia!!"
Jonny Malbon (Artemis II) in his daily message

 

"I hurt myself last night, during the manoeuvres through the front. Am rather sore today, as a result. I was stacking everything, ready for my gybe, and at the time I was stacking a spinnaker in the aft section, under the cockpit. Unfortunately, as I was pulling on it, a sail-tie broke, and I went flying backwards, landing my elbow into a winch transmission box - a nice solid corner. It hurt SO much that everything went black, and I passed out! I woke up lying on my back, under the cockpit. The elbow was throbbing, from my fingertips to my shoulder. I could move it thankfully, but the pain made me sick. Because of these reactions, I called Jean-Yves Chauve, the race doctor, and he told me which (nice strong) painkiller to take.  The problem was - I had to gybe! I lay down for as long as possible (for the painkiller to work), and summoned my strength. I managed the gybe! Luckily the wind had dropped in the cold front but I had kept small sails, so the manoeuvre was easy.  Since then, Jean-Yves has helped me check the elbow by telephone to confirm that it is just a nasty big bruise, nothing more serious. My elbow is so SORE, but I know it will get better, so there is no worry. He said that the reason for my rather severe reaction to the shock is probably because I'm not eating enough - and I must try harder to balance the energy I use each day with enough nutrition. I need 6000 calories per day out here in the cold south. The annoying thing now is that eating is a movement that really hurts my arm - ironically! So, I will maybe try eating left-handed, although that is a sure way to ensure that I will be mostly "wearing" my dinner rather than  consuming it - especially in this sea-state! I can already hear you asking - YES - the winch transmission box is fine I didn't do it any damage!"
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message

 

"You're going to laugh, or smile at least. As I keep looking behind me through the door, I can't remember  which is port and which is starboard, green and red. You could say "Apart from a question of pride, it doesn't really matter, as you don't need to know!" But I do.  It is useful as the stern ballast tanks of which there are four, 2 on the right and 2 on the left are emptied and filled using 2 intakes, one on the right and one on the left and beside each of them there are 4 cords with a green and yellow ball on the end for starboard and a red and white ball for port. So it's simple in theory.  Except that as the boat is heeled over, we fill the windward tank from the leeward side, so at the moment for example, the starboard intake for the port tank. So I have to keep asking myself the question.  The strange thing is that at night it's easier as the navigational lights are on an I just take the ball with the same colour as the side I want to fill. In short, a simple thing becomes a real pain in the butt, just because I keep looking behind me.  What if I looked behind using a mirror and was colour-blind.  That would really get confusing."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his daily message