32' 45N 50' 27W

I need to choose my words carefully if I am to describe the last 48 hours or so. Light Winds Lottery is a phrase racing sailors sometimes use to describe such conditions and perhaps I will leave it at that.

Working in the hot sun, with sails slatting overhead, boat speeds close to zero and schedules that show others nearby in differing wind speeds - in many ways these conditions have been the most trying we have encountered in the circumnavigation. We have laboured away stoically, trying to stay cheerful, each crewmember hoping for wind and some equal conditions to fight in.

Last night the random nature of yacht movements continued apace. We gained 10 miles on Team Stelmar, meanwhile SAIC La Jolla overtook us and from even further behind
Imagine It. Done. overtook all of us.

All of us are capable of being a little tetchy and in an effort to make light of this I asked Naomi to create two 30cm diameter medals. Made of Dacron and proudly worn around the recipient's neck, they declare:

With smiling face ''I am a happy bugger''

And

With unhappy face ''I am a miserable git''

Both watches were made aware that these medals were to be issued at the daily 1200 meeting, one of each type, for each watch. A kangaroo court was hastily organised and a 'happy bugger' and 'miserable git' for each watch were duly presented with their medals. To be frank the sins of the miserable were rather mild and in some cases frankly misquoted. They did allow us to once again focus on the issues of morale and team spirit. If you are laughing and stitching each other up over 'miserable git' medals your team
is invariably ok. They also allowed us to humorously make the point that negative behaviour would be highlighted by the awarding of a large medal in a group environment. There's only one way to avoid getting the 'mis' medal and that's to be cheerful.

There is photographic evidence of the first recipients - but as for names I am sworn to silence. There will be more presentations with each medal being proudly inscribed with the name of past winners. Seven more days to Boston and seven more winners!

It feels very much like we have escaped the prolonged calms and for the next 36 hours we should have moderate westerlies. We have a challenging task ahead and some varied conditions over the next seven days - including another
period of calm. We are determined to win the battle of the becalmed boats, but part of it appears to be in the lap of the wind gods.