47o15S 66o07E

Finally! Waypoint Bravo and the Kerguelen Islands disappear in our wake.
Things didn't quite go to plan but then we did have an uneasy feeling that things might not go our way for the whole leg. All in all it's not too bad, third is still a good position within the fleet and with some 2266 miles to go we have plenty of time to catch up and reacquire our lead. Spirit of Sark and Imagine It. Done. are about 20 miles in front and we now have someone to chase - always good for moral and the preservation of our fighting spirit. Talking of spirit, Joe and Warren smuggled onboard some surprise items to celebrate passing the waypoint. They thought it would be appropriate to bring something from as far north that they could find to mark being as far south as they had ever been. Warren came up with a litre bottle of Highland Park whisky, distilled in the most northern distillery on the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Joe produced 2.2 pounds of the finest Alaskan smoked salmon. There was certainly a party mood among the crew as they came off watch and dined on easily the finest food and drink we've had in the race so far. This morning the skies cleared and the sun shone. The now familiar yellow foulies were, for once, left in the locker as we went on deck in just our green mid-layers. For the first time in 3500 miles we had the spinnakers up, first the promo kite then the flanker. But, as the wind started to rise and the afternoon watch came on deck the flanker was dropped and we once again returned to the headsails. We've been racing along at over 10 knots but the Sun had now retreated behind its blanket of grey cloud and we have donned our foulies once more. More Dolphins have joined us but this time they are of the black and white variety and our ever-present companions of several Albatross, Shearwaters and a small flock of other sea birds swoop and glide behind us. Naomi got very excited last night when she saw an aeroplane. "It's just nice to see other people" she said. David borrowed my state of the art razor handle today (It vibrates!) and, arriving at my bunk clean shaven, was clearly overjoyed with the results. It really is the simple things out here you know, we're not going mad - honest!
John Bass