Atlantic Ocean

At the prize-giving in Cape Town, BP Explorer scored a hat-trick; not only did we pick up prizes for our second place on Leg 4 and the Cape-to-Cape trophy (fastest boat from Cape Horn to the Cape of Good Hope), but our favourite chef and general all-round good guy, Major Malhi, also collected an award for Best Mate in the Fleet. Our boat song is 'Right Here, Right Now' by Fatboy Slim, and, as the lyrics suggest, 'We've come a long way, through the hard times and the good.' Major was nominated for his unerring friendliness through those 20,000-plus miles of racing. His curries have lent flavour and colour to even the coldest, grey day, he is always funny and cheerful and selflessly agrees to sleep up front so that we do not have to suffer the sounds of his impressive snoring! What more can you ask? Today Major turns 21 again so it is a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him from his mates on BP Explorer and no doubt the rest of the fleet too (Major is a household name amongst the other crews).

Giving him the bumps might prove problematic though. After a difficult 24 hours hoisting and dropping spinnakers in the changeable winds of the doldrums, we are now heeled over with the yellow sails up, almost for the first time since Cape Town, and a steadying north-easterly is carrying us towards Boston. After repeated drenchings in the heavy downpours, alternated with unbelievably sweaty kite packs below decks (five alone last night in the 37°C heat), we are hoping that we have finally clawed our way out of the doldrums; we should know if this is the case by the end of the day.

Meanwhile, the boats further east are sailing a little faster, with SAIC La Jolla and BG SPIRIT twelve and seven miles in front respectively. Spirit of Sark are six-and-a-half miles behind and Barclays Adventurer have closed up to just eight miles distant. So we are doing everything we can to regain our lead and hold off those behind.

It is going to be a boozy week - whisky for the Equator, Champagne from Challenge Business and a bottle of Highland Park from Holger's parents, Herr und Frau Bindel, for crossing our track - and (hopefully soon) more bubbly to celebrate our escape into the north-easterlies. This should be almost enough to tide us through to our arrival in the USA, 2,908 miles away. We certainly know that we are on the way; last night Polaris put in an appearance for the first time in seven months, greeted with ooohs and aaahs from the more romantically-minded amongst the crew. It is beginning to feel like we are headed for our home stomping ground once again.