At the moment it is sending the leaders the very long way round, close to the Brasilian coast as there seems no sensible way through the middle and, at the moment, there is more breeze closer to the coast. That is balanced against sailing the shorter distance by skirting closer to the middle of the high, or as the French like to say, ‘cutting the cheese’. 

For the time being it is a case of keeping the pedal down, straight lining it upwind in the 20 knots SE’ly trade winds, keeping rested, watching the  maintenance  of the boat and equipment in the jarring,  choppy seas, and looking at the met  planning for the next five to seven days.

While Jean Pierre Dick appears to have made a small advance, about four miles, the only place change among the leading group is Yann Elies (Générali), who has passed Mike Golding, GBR, (Ecover) again for sixth. While Golding has stayed very much on his track, Elies seems to have taken a little extra height over the last 70 miles or so, perhaps as the breeze backed to the east a little, or maybe working a higher mode for a while. He is now computed to be three miles ahead of Golding.

Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) is up to 11th place as he eased past Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos II) after a long duel to the north north west of the main pack. The pair have been very evenly matched for speed, Thompson sailing slightly lower and more west, below Temenos’ line.

Steve White may be the next to toast King Neptune, crossing over the Equator some time tomorrow, will be interesting to see what the British skipper offers up to Neptune.

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 23 November 2008 )