"I had somehow managed to continue to work the boat, convincing myself that “my" keel would somehow be OK. Whilst the engineers studied the problem and gave me some rather unconvincing assurances, I ran the boat with the keel at 80/90% cant, reducing the risk but making staying with the lead pack ever more difficult. With the shore team we decided that we would monitor the keel head cracks and make a final decision, “in or out of the race” at the W Australian ice gate. We either turned right and continued back down into the Southeast and the next gate or we keep going northeast retiring from the race, like Dominique and head for Perth.
Each and every skipper in the Vendee has a huge investment with their participation in this event, including myself. This is not simply a 90-day race but encompasses years of hard work and preparation. It is not an event so much as a way of life, to do it you have to live it for years prior to the starting gun. In this spirit, I was not about to quit easily and certainly not from such a competitive position in the race .But continuing was easily going to rank as the most stressful situation I have ever put myself in. Despite the wranglings I had basically made my mind up even before I put down the phone to Dominique – this is the Vendee, I am a serious contender – I want to continue!
So it’s a cruel irony that it is entirely possible that the mast breaking has inadvertently actually saved my life! Perhaps someone “up there” really is watching out for me? And quite possibly I am as I have always thought – the absolute luckiest – unlucky person on the planet."
Mike Golding (Ecover 3) talking in his blog about his feelings after Dominique Wavre's keel head problem
 

"Day 43 is finished, and that means that Roxy is halfway through her record time of 87 days!!! I think we are pretty much halfway distance-wise too.... so it might be still be possible to break Roxy's record time from the last race! After a long night of "wallowing" and a lot of hard work by me to squeeze the maximum boat speed out of just a few knots of wind, we were rewarded by a lovely sunrise, and the first zephyrs of the "new" Northerly wind! This extra bit of wind, meant that I could leave the pilot to do the job and I managed to get a bit of sleep. Now, there is 16 knots of wind and finally the speedo is reading 15-16knots - AT LAST!!!  We are tight reaching, so the daggerboard is down and I can hear it "singing"! It is a sweet sound that I haven't heard for a while and as we accelerate, the pitch gets higher and higher! The objective now is to try and stay in front of the low pressure that is behind us! And finally, I have a confession to make (to my Mum.) She's made me a lovely Christmas cake, and today I gave in to the temptation and I have eaten a piece - a day early..."
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily blog
 

"A few days ago, an odd event, thought an albatross made an aerodynamic mistake, starboard gybe, came in low to leeward under solent, in turbulence, flapped wings a couple of times, rare for an albatross, then looked as though it realized it couldn't bank to make the bow, and nose-dived into the water 2 meters off the side of the boat, then, after the boat left, it ran along the water to take off again, flapping its giant wings. Then I thought, maybe fishing for squid, can't imagine an albatross making an aerodynamic mistake. Until this morning, when, after some more work out at the end of the boom, I was in the cabin, standing behind the chart table, looking at the computer screen and instruments, when crash/bang, and whenever on a boat there is a new noise, its high alert for all human systems, then saw through the cabin window to the mid-deck, that an albatross had crash landed there. It scrambled to its webbed feet, trying to get a grip on the non-skid paint, got its wings out from underneath, started flapping, and climbed/flapped through the wire lifelines, and splashed into the water. I was definitely startled, but I think he was much more startled."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily log
 

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Not a lot at all. Nothing new. That was what happened last night to the south of New Zealand. We sailed as best we could, while waiting for windier times. In other words, we didn't do a lot. Sleep, tidy up, sleep, eat and trim. Time is slipping by and at night it is your day, so we sleep at day and chat to the world by night, as we're on the other side of the world. But in any case, our world is upside down anyway, so it doesn't make much difference!"
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his daily message
 

"Another long day in the boatyard, worked all day yesterday, all night last night, then had 2 hours sleep at dawn before carrying on all day. Will probably go all night again and then I should be done, and can get some sleep, but actually feel ok. Been eating and drinking to keep up the energy levels. The wind is just starting to creep up to 20 knots and I am on double reefed main. Some of you may be wondering why I am going so slowly, and it is because I need the hull not to move and allow the crack to propagate further. Also now that I am more than half way through the repair, there is a lot of adhesive setting, and the steadier the boat, the more likely it is to hold in the correct position. It’s a bit like superglueing a broken plate – you have to hold it very still so that it can set. That’s the plan anyway, but it is far from perfect working conditions, so fingers crossed that the sheer amount of material added will overcome the lack of technical perfection. Another perfect sailing day today, but sadly I could not take advantage of it, but I did have a wonderful view of a pair of albatross this afternoon, circling the boat. They really are breathtaking animals, with their wings like a competition glider’s. Tomorrow big wind coming, and I will be monitoring the repair closely during the low. Tonight I got the big furling sails down and bagged up and am rigged and ready for the breeze to arrive. "
Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message
 

Over the past 24 hours, Vincent Riou (PRB) currently in sixth place, 485.1 miles from the leader, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 368.3 miles.