46o33N 31o59W

The last 24 hours have been reminiscent of the southern ocean. The yellow headsails have been up and BP Explorer has assumed the heeled at 28 degrees position. The skies have been grey and we have been pestered by a continuous drizzle. It is nothing like as cold as legs two and five but we have been in full foulies with heads ducked not to shield us from driving spray but a face tickling rain. This is David's favourite type of sailing, no kites to worry about but zooming at 11-12 knots towards our destination. For the crew it's not as comfortable both on deck and below but we are happy to be moving quickly towards La Rochelle.

We have been increasing our lead on BG SPIRIT and Spirit of Sark which is a good thing but we still have a number of yachts to get past before we can claim to be in the lead pack. Ahead of us are Barclays Adventurer - we can see them on the horizon, Me To You, Imagine it. Done, Team Stelmar then in the lead and four points behind us over all are SAIC La Jolla. We've still got a lot of work to do and have to focus on every manoeuvre as mistakes at this stage could prove very costly.

It is now less than three weeks until the end of the race and inevitably talk on the rail is not of what we'll be doing in La Rochelle , as would be the norm, but what we are going to do when it's all over. Those that have rented their houses out may not be able to move in right away and so will be staying with friends and family. Some will be returning to their old jobs but others need to start looking for work and the aft computer is occupied most of the time as crew type their CV's in their off watch and try to arrange interviews. For some of us this race has lead us to seek a totally new direction. Another adventure, starting a business that we perhaps lacked the confidence to start before or just a different career path. There is a genuine buzz of excitement as to what the future holds but we can't let it distract us from the immediate future, trimming, the next sail change the next spinnaker hoist.

Reports from the letters page indicate we seem to have some new readers including professional letter writer Ken Erskine. It's always good to know we are exciting so much interest.