Leg 2 Day 22 : 52' 27S 123' 0W

We were expecting some sort of barge anchored at the mythical Waypoint Alpha, laden with cold beers, a huge steak and champagne, but were sadly disappointed this morning when we rounded the waypoint watched by a couple of indifferent seabirds and surrounded by a light, cold drizzle in the middle, literally, of nowhere. Tensions on deck ran high after learning of BG SPIRIT's positioning which had enabled them to overtake us, putting us back to fourth position, and everyone is noticeably relieved that New Zealand now seems a tangible destination, at just over a fortnight's distance. When we all first signed up for the Global Challenge - some of us more than four years ago, others more recently - we read all the blurb and watched footage from the previous race. Those images of foredeck crews taking a pasting through stormy sail-changes, waist deep in icy water and being bashed around like rag dolls were not, as it turns out, at all exaggerated - nor the portrayal of the elation felt by each crew at the end of a leg. What did not come through in those early stages, however, were the many other ways in which the Southern Ocean legs are such a test of endurance. It is not so much the individual storms, but the endless progression of them, with an unrelenting theme of cold and wet running through it all. Even on the occasional watch where there are no sail changes to be made, simply keeping warm on deck for any length of time is pretty tiring, and staggering around down below whilst heeled over in six or seven layers of clothing sometimes gets a bit waring! We soldier on, though, still currently in fourth, but according to the most recent scheds having made up a little ground on BG SPIRIT since this morning who are three miles away, and continuing to pursue VAIO, who are five-and-a-half miles in front. < of>remain a longer-term goal but we have more than a couple of thousand miles to try to turn this around! Naomi Cudmore