Monday, 15 December 2008

VOR: TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 3 QFB: received 17.11.08 0524 GMT

by Simon Fisher (navigator)

Hi There,

Wow - this leg has gone by fast! It is hard to believe that we are already through our second night at sea - the time has gone by so quickly. Cape Town and all the delights it had to offer are now but a distant memory, many hundreds of miles behind our transom.

After 12 good days on shore, it’s great to be back out at sea. I’ll miss the food though. I think all I did in Cape Town was eat! Sadly, the freeze-dried isn’t quite measuring up to the South Africa cuisine although the biltong we have on board is a welcome reminder of the last couple of weeks.

It has been tough out here so far, close. We were exchanging tacks for the first day and then in full view of each other as we powered downwind on the second day. With the pressure building though, the fleet is starting to spread out a little and a few of the boats who seem to go well in the big breeze are starting to shine. As for us, maybe this isn’t our strongest suit but we are learning to hang in there and are focused on going as well as we can.

On board is wet, but luckily the weather is kind and not too cold and the nights seem short and well lit by the moonlight. Right now, we are being conservative and steady ready to pounce when the conditions start to swing our way...

As for me, life is good, after very little sleep for the first 36 hours, I managed few quality hours in the sleeping bag last night and that seems to have made all the difference. I’m feeling good and looking forward to what lies ahead. For sure, this is going to continue to be the closest of races so it is going to pay to be alert...

Volvo Ocean Race

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