Leg 1 Day 3: South of Brest 48°15'00.2"N 5°00'47.7"W

At 8.55 GMT BP Explorer is bowling along close-hauled just south of Brest and, most importantly, with the lead boat in sight off the starboard bow. Spirits are considerably improved on deck this morning. As the seasickness which has debilitated perhaps up to two-thirds of the crew begins to ease its grip, we are able to savour our promising position, some fantastic weather - sunshine and an average of 17 knots of breeze - and a return to some proper food (relatively speaking of course!) Not that we are now trouble-free. That would be far too easy.

This morning sees us still being plagued by a duo of technical hitches. We find ourselves unable to run the generator (vital for providing power to our instruments, etc.) and our mechnical experts have their heads planted inside the monster trying to solve the problem.

Meanwhile, back at the chart table, our weather information has become somewhat patchy thanks to difficulties downloading email. The ramifications of this are that it is hard to decide whether we will get lifted by the wind on this tack (starboard) sufficiently to clear Finisterre, or whether we should put in a tack soon - all vital information when it comes to the struggle to catch the lead boat!