Day 19 : 03 27 N 29 29 W

The flavour of the day for the crew of BP Explorer is frustration. After our typically positive query - 'Doldrums, what Doldrums?' - we find ourselves now plagued with light and fickle winds in which the occasional migratory bird seems to make faster progress than ourselves. The ITCZ, the Doldrums, have dipped south to greet us, stolen our lovely, steady wind and replaced it with a breeze which varies from 8 knots to very little. Paradoxically, as the wind becomes less energetic, those on deck have to work ever harder,
changing sails repeatedly as we strive to squeeze every .1 of a knot of speed out of the boat. During the night we had Barclays Adventurer and VAIO in our sights off the port bow and had made considerable ground on all those in front - particularly Barclays - thanks in part to favourable winds. Now those fortunes have changed and there is not another boat to be seen.

Spotting our fellow yachts so near after all those miles not only provided a timely reminder of just how close this race is, but also gave us a chance to chat over the VHF, during which we discovered that VAIO have the luxury of
fresh oranges on board! We work harder every minute to speed ourselves towards BA and all of those little luxuries which we commonly take for granted. Currently we are 660nm off the closest point of mainland Brazil, Cabo Calcan, although Fernando Island (which we may well pass close enough to see with its tall beacon mid-Atlantic) is just 500nm south-west of us.

Whatever the weather, there is still plenty to inspire us this morning. It appears that, having until very recently been in 6th place, we are now enjoying 4th, with the aforementioned duo ahead of us on roughly the same line, whilst Spirit of Sark and SAIC La Jolla flank us about 20 miles parallel on the port and starboard beams respectively. Imagine it. Done., meanwhile, are around 30 miles off on the starboard quarter, with Team Stelmar behind them. We are clawing our way back up the fleet inch by inch, and we will do everything we can to ensure that we have only clear water ahead when we plough up the muddy waters of the River Plate!