37 57 S 161 12E

We take it all back - there is nothing dull about routine and stability. Bring back the cruising weather! For those who do not like change, today has not been a good day. The wind is like a pogo stick in a lift. For Tasman Sea in February read brilliant sunshine, refreshing breeze and calm seas; no, actually, cancel that - humid, oppressive weather with electrical storms and dampness everywhere. On the other hand, you could opt for gale-force winds and a return to big-wave country, the stars all packed away out of sight behind the gloom. In the last few hours we have had it all; spinnakers, genoa, and a wardrobe of yankees and reefs.

Since sailing through a low-pressure system earlier in the day, BP Explorer has been covered in the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune - again! This morning as we ploughed into a wind hole, we watched SAIC La Jolla and Barclays Adventurer continue trucking fast at only spitting distance whilst our speed dropped off the scale. We lost our hard-won gains of the previous night in the blink of an eye as it began to rain, and rain, and rain some more.

Lying third as we enjoyed a spectacular and moody sunrise with lightning to the north-east and a blood-red sky behind, we were in ninth by the time that 'Pasta Vegetariana' was making its way into the dog bowls this evening. The scheds go out of date as quickly as a copy of Hello magazine, and we are now awaiting a new set as I type this wedged into the media seat whilst the boat launches off huge waves and those on deck get a soaking.

And here they come; the latest is that we now lie in eighth position. The boats to the north - the main pack of which are 20 miles away along the north-south spread - fared better than those of us caught out in softer winds to the south. So, if we are feeling bad, no doubt VAIO and BG SPIRIT feel even worse! Whilst the leaders, Team Stelmar, are around seven miles in front of us, we need only make up two-and-a-half miles to recover five of those lost places. In summary - the racing is very, very close. As we approach Sydney, now just 550 miles distant (ETA Valentine's Day), it is going to take a plan more cunning than a professor of cunning at Cunning University to outwit our adversaries - and, no doubt, not a little bit of luck. Here's hoping!