Approaching Waypoint Charlie

Well we are not exactly where we want to be, but it's close. Side by side with Spirit of Sark for much of the night we can see the lead boats 3 to 4 miles ahead.

Spirit of Sark and BP Explorer - sometimes it feels like we would be better off welding the boats together and making a catamaran. Both crews would get more sleep and the finishes tend to be that close anyway.

The potential fly in the ointment is SAIC La Jolla, they have taken a jump forward by sailing the southern line of the course. When they went south the wind looked to be best in the north and I thought - good luck to them. A low was set to pass over Nova Scotia and it did not look like the winds would reach as far south as SAIC La Jolla. But the low passed further south than predicted and the dead winds in the middle sat over the fleet for over 24 hours. We all went nowhere while 80m to the south SAIC La Jolla powered away and for now we follow their progress with interest. They are a few points behind us and are dangerous in that they could knock us out of the podium three.

As I send this log off, there is bright morning sunshine on deck and a cold wind blowing from the west. We can count eight yachts on the horizon, all with spinnakers up, all making for Waypoint Charlie at the tip of the Grand Banks - the racing is close, close, close. Onboard the atmosphere is different on this leg, we have all travelled so far and seen so much at sea. All of the manoeuvres on deck are routine and we have to be on guard for complacency - we don't want any injuries and we don't want to break anything. We know each other very well and know how to live without conflict.

Nobody has even come close to getting off for interpersonal reasons and that is a very positive statement about the crew. We always discuss with interest things like the sudden departure of Spirit of Sark's navigator in Boston and speculate about what that might mean for crew dynamics.

After a slow start the weather is shaping up and we look like we will have some good daily runs for the next week as we enter the main body of the Atlantic. Onboard BP Explorer all is well. The main difference this trip is that the calorie count is much lower. We were not allowed to import any foodstuffs into the USA (so much for free trade) and so our daily freeze dried packs that have been shipped out to all the other ports were not an option.

The food team were sent out to the local supermarkets with the remit of keeping the boat light. This they have, there is enough food but no more. For those that put on a few pounds on our leg up the Atlantic this is a last minute chance to get fighting fit for those pictures on arrival in Portsmouth