Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED) at the start of leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston. Image copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Simon Fisher (helmsman)
So much for getting 'safely into the trades' the last day has seen us battling constantly with cloud after cloud, some of which bring lots of wind and others end up leaving us with none so we have had to be constantly on our toes and ready to change sails in order to keep our pace on and stay ahead of the chasing pack.
It is fair to say though that the day has been a little more stable than last night. During the hours of darkness it seemed as if we were in a constant battle with the weather and always changing from one sail to another. This meant not much sleep and a lot of grinding however, despite the fatigue at the end of your watch, and the certainty that you will have to be back on deck as soon as your head hit the pillow, it has paid off and despite losing a few miles last night we have hung onto our lead so far.
With the sun setting once again we are preparing ourselves for another busy night as the first few spots of rain have started to hit the deck and the wind has started to play its little games with us. With last night’s experience under our belt now, hopefully we can be a little smarter tonight having got a better feeling for how the squalls seem to be working and how quick they move. Whatever happens though I am quite sure we are going to have to work hard again to get through the night with our lead intact.
Volvo Ocean Race
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