Leg 2 Day 11 : 58°37'00.0"S 72°10'00.0"W

There has been nothing half-hearted about our deep, icy latitude in the last 24 hours - it has been a tough day's run. As watch leader Cop (David Pugh) finally wedges himself against the saloon rail at four in the afternoon to spoon down a long-overdue lunch of risotto (by this point resembling something more like a cold, congealed brick of mushroom googah), the call comes down the companionway - 'up on deck please' - again. It is time for yet another sail change in what has already been a long afternoon. There is a roar of water, those on the rail preparing the No3 yankee are lifted off their backsides by a huge wave and down below the galley comes alive as pots and pans are airborne. Cop's risotto joins the two sails on the floor - a tangle of soaking, and now filthy, spinnaker and yankee sailcloth - none of which has yet been packed away because we simply have not made it down below to bring order to chaos. Getting the No2 down and hoisting the 3 is a fight because the wind has changed so swiftly - six beefy men grit teeth and hang on as they haul the yellow monster onto the deck. It is hard to keep up with the changeable weather. When asked by David how I was finding the Southern Ocean, I replied through chattering teeth, 'exhilarating but cold'. It is interminably cold - our breath visible in our damp bunks let alone on deck - but at 58 degrees we are almost in the 'screaming sixties' and about as far south as we are likely to get on this leg. Northerly winds are expected later today ahead of a depression, and these should help get us back on the great circle line. Waypoint Alpha is up at a tropical 52 degrees south and is included in the route to keep the fleet north of iceberg territory and the worst of the southern ocean. We are about a quarter of the way to Wellington and a hot shower, and 1,700 miles from Waypoint Alpha. Our wake, meanwhile, is 1,755 miles long! This morning things are a little more shipshape, but the winds have been hooning around our heads all night - dress code: as many clothes as you can find; menu for the day: as much as possible! Life is very, very basic down here. but we ARE having fun - honest! Naomi Cudmore