Less than 950 miles to go now, quite incredible to think that only 1/28th of this journey still to complete.  Europe is looming larger on my computer screen with all the familiar landmarks between Spain and Ireland surrounding the focus of Les Sables.  Between there and here I have some fast sailing for the next 36 hours in the low that is pushing me at present and then a big slow up in the Bay of Biscay under the High Pressure that will be forming there.  Wind at present is around 30/35 knots and the seas are up to 5m at times, but it looks like the low will slow up as it approaches Europe, so I will begin to accelerate out of it and back into the calmer conditions ahead of it - a novel experience in this race. In the Southern Ocean the lows just relentlessly sweep over you, this one I have joined from the south just as it is slowing, so I have been able to keep pace with it.

I have all my fingers crossed that Marc reaches the finish safely, he is going really well at the moment. Bilou managed brilliantly to get through a strong gale with his keel-less Veolia and of course in the last race Nick Moloney sailed into Rio and Mike Golding crossed the finish line with no keel, so it’s become more common - maybe there should be a term for it! I think that with these wide flat, bottomed boats with twin dagger boards, they look not unlike a Dutch or Thames Barge with no keel, so maybe ‘barging’ could be the new term. But barges generally stay in sheltered waters for a good reason and Marc is in the open North Atlantic in winter. At least his weather is looking better than average, but it must be a very stressful finish for him. 

Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message

"The sailing should be enjoyable. We have 30 to 35 knots of wind and a blue sky with white fluffy clouds. The boat speeds are fast down the waves and we are closing the miles to the finish. However on Aviva the stress levels are high. 40 knots last night through the mainsail didn't go down too well and another section of fibres parted. I am now holding my breath as we surf along for another 24 hours before the wind eases. Once we reach the light airs I can hoist the mainsail and hopefully leave it. Maybe the high pressure is a blessing in disguise as I am not sure another depression would be any good for the mainsail or my anxiety levels. Unfortunately, to avoid any further damage with the fibres getting caught, I am going to have to wait until much lighter winds before hoisting so I may lose some more miles to Pindar but we all have to float through the high pressure to the finish, so all is not lost."

Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message

“For the moment to save fuel, everything is turned off except the autopilot. I turn on the computer three times a day to see the rankings without looking at the night rankings, as the wind turbine is working, but not producing enough electricity. It is not as much of a problem as on the way down, as I don’t need to keep an eye on others. I think I will have enough fuel to finish, but I’d like to have some left for the Bay of Biscay so I can use my ballast tanks. At night, I leave my navigation lights on and the AIS tracker doesn’t use much. Yesterday, a cargo ship about 9 miles away, spotted me on the AIS. So I’ve stopped watching films and now I just use the iPod when the sun is out. I’m making savings too by not fetching all the weather charts. That doesn’t really matter now, as there’s not much of a race here and all I can do is try to head north. It’s a bit frustrating to have all this equipment on board and not be able to use it.”

Arnaud Boissières (Akéna Vérandas) in his daily message.

"For the moment, I need to wait for BT to come back home, so I am working on my fitness and use the available time to make sure everything will be perfect for the rest of the season. I'll do some winter racing in Brittany where the scene is thriving, and take out my windsurf gear in the winter gales - that should keep me busy and reasonably in shape!" said Sebasten Josse (BT). Meanwhile some members of his shore team have been busy in Auckland preparing to work on BT. The whole team will be involved in the repairs so the boat can be made ready for the 2009 season. Work on the composites is already underway and once the repairs are completed, BT will be transported by cargo vessel to Europe. She will then be based in Port La Foret for the 2009 season. Sébastien and BT are set to start training again in Brittany in late April.

"Aviva and I have enjoyed some great sailing this afternoon. We are sailing around the edge of the high pressure. It has been blue skies and sunshine for the downwind sailing that has now allowed us to surf the waves rather than crash into them. Tonight I shall be sailing between the islands of the Azores and will see the stable winds increase. I have another twenty four hours of breeze before we begin to negotiate lighter conditions once more. Why do the final miles always seem the hardest to complete?"
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message
 

“A long day of trying to point high on starboard tack up the coast to clear some shoals, and to get upwind to where the wind was supposed to shift to lift us. Seems as though it took forever, several days in fact, but finally did get across the last bank, and then got a lift so that for now at least we're heading in the right direction. Should, according to weather files, have two days of workable weather, then not so sure. Anyway, the boat sailed well today, although at the moment the wind is lightening, not what we wanted for the night. Had two pilot alarms today, always makes your heart skip five beats. Don't know what caused them, but pilot seems OK right now. Saw several fishing boats on the banks that we crossed. Also, a big ship coming up the coast this morning set off the radar detector which is good. Yet I'm surprised at how few ships we've seen, just the sugar carrier and this big ship in the dawn. We must be a bit too far offshore. Makes the sailing a bit simpler, but it's nice to see ships at sea. Very hot in the sun today, as we're near where the sun is directly overhead. Blue skies and white fluffy clouds all day. In the morning, a cloud went by with a bit of rain in it that mostly missed us. As I watched it go downwind to leeward, I could see the raindrops falling into the water about 100-200 meters to leeward, and the water would then bounce up about eight inches, making a thick layer of water droplets. This was across an expanse of a few hundred meters. What was so remarkable was that I could see many, many horizontal, shimmering rainbows in the layer of droplets that were amazing and beautiful. A few flying fish today, but none have come aboard.”

Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message