On board the Green Dragon on leg 6 to Boston. Image copyright Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing.
by Ian Walker (skipper)
It seems strangely normal being at sea again. Even though the stopover was short at only two weeks I felt ready to leave.
The surroundings are all too familiar out here with very little wind and quite big waves bouncing off the land. The crew are busy trying to squeeze any speed out of what little wind and current we have in the hope it will get us to something better.
So far the first 24 hours have gone well. We made a good start and protected the favoured side of the course to stay in touch with the leaders. The key has been the current which has largely been helping us to get west with the exception of one dreadful 30 minute period when we got caught in an eddy behind an island losing two boats and a couple of miles in the process.
Since then we have done well and made the best of the land breeze to get into second place just behind Telefónica Blue. We are almost level with these guys right now and we both have small headsails up in light winds to try and drift along as best we can.
As always we can feel the pressure of PUMA and Ericsson 4 as they grow ever larger on the horizon behind us. It is strange how little needs to be said onboard anymore. This crew have sailed over 25,000 miles to this point and where 10 words were once needed now two or three will suffice. We are already well into our rotating watches and soon the days will be merging into one. After 42 days on the last leg 16 - 20 this time will seem more like a short offshore - or I hope so anyway.
Volvo Ocean Race
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