38o11N 62o05W

On Tuesday we were bemoaning our prolonged light-winds fate; all around us the drifts of ochre-coloured Sargasso weed seemed to be travelling faster thanBP Explorer and we wondered if the three turtles we had seen were actually the same one as we spun around going nowhere.

We demanded that the navigators order us some better wind - and they certainly took us at our word. By the early hours of Wednesday morning, somebody had 'packed up the stars' and we were exchanging our 1.5oz kite for the heavier-weight flanker. Under rain clouds by dawn, the crew began to change down through the gears, donning their foulies and dropping the sails until we were left with No.3 headsail,
storm staysail and three reefs - the standard gale sail-plan.

With gusts of 52 knots across the deck as we approached the middle of the low-pressure system, even the mainsail had to come down, albeit briefly. But whereas we have on occasion groaned at the prospect of a Force 8-9, the general consensus was 'bring it on'. Lumps of old flapjack in hidden
recesses of the deck, weeks of unidentified fluff lodged here and there, most of all our energy levels - all called for a good blast of wind and water; a gale was just what was needed to refresh and energise BP Explorer, blowing away the ennui and frustration. We took the weather in our stride
and by afternoon were reversing the sail changes again, the new watch undoing what the morning watch had done and now belting back up through the gears.

Last night, having watched a huge cadmium sunset melting into the still-choppy sea, I allowed myself a peek at the scheds for the first time in days; it looked promising, Barclays Adventurer and Team Stelmar having both conceded around ten miles to us, from in front and behind respectively. Further north than BP Explorer, it might be that they are suffering adverse effects of the
Gulf Stream. Meanwhile, to the south, SAIC La Jolla and VAIO had grown closer, having already arrived at the lighter winds which we are now also beginning to encounter. The important thing is certainly to hold on tight to fifth, but it does seem possible that we might improve upon this, Barclays Adventurer (currently third) being now 38 miles distant, and SAIC La Jolla (fourth) 28.

As a visible reminder that we have to keep going - and going fast - we can see the masthead light of Imagine It. Done. about three miles dead astern, pointing straight up towards a grapefruit-yellow crescent moon. Now on a
level with Washington DC, we have just 424 miles to go to the Cape Cod waypoint. So with any luck the next log from me will be written just a few hours away from a bottle - or seven, or eight - of Bud, followed shortly by bath and a big bed!

As I went to send this I noticed that the new scheds had come in. If you take a look at the race viewer this morning you will see that these distances have been eaten up even more! A new light-winds lottery unfolding just a few miles ahead of us, you could even soon be watching the start to
the race - at least for second place - beginning all over again.