On board Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Simon Fisher (helmsman)
With Green Dragon stretching their lead back out to over 100 miles, it would seem that our plans for an exciting duel to the finish have been thwarted for now. They have finally reached decent breeze whilst we continue to struggle to escape the clutches of this high pressure system. However, all is not lost and at the very least we were all happy to feel the thrill of the chase again albeit for only 24 hours!
We continue to sail upwind in light shifty breeze with our big Code 0, our priority for now to get north in the hope of finally picking up the wind that will take us into to Rio. The breeze has been teasing us all morning, tempting us with the wind shift we are waiting for and then before you know it, it shifts back and drops again. This is proving frustrating for some and others now are more philosophical as they resign themselves to a slow ride up to Rio.
However frustrated or relaxed though, the good news is due to some good planning with the menu we still have plenty of food so we are not going to starve, conditions are easy and we are getting plenty of rest, it is neither too hot nor too cold right now so really there is little to complain about. The best we can do is just enjoy the sailing and do our best to get to Rio as quickly as possible!
Volvo Ocean Race
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