Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael (BRA) at the start of leg 9 from Marstrand to Stockholm. Image copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Guy Salter
The sun was up around 02.30 GMT and we had managed to slip to the front of the pack - then at 0300 we started a small gybing duel with Puma, both sailing against the shift to get offshore to a little more breeze. Then as Puma gybed back onto the favoured angle, we just covered, putting ourselves between the opposition and the mark.
Ericsson 3 is also part of our little gang, so it is sure to be a classic struggle as we head north to Stockholm.
0500hrs - We have Puma just about 10 boat lengths behind us and Ericsson 3 a little further back and slightly to leeward. It’s about 22 kts of wind and we are sailing at around 18 - 20 kts - not bad really. Some sleep has been had as it hasn’t been the full peeling and gybing frenzy, but I'm sure that the sleep time will vanish over the next few hours.
0520 - We are just peeling to our fractional reacher as we head further north and expect the breeze to head.
Jules (Jules Salter – navigator) has kindly brought the lurgy onboard, so we now have a few of the lads feeling a little poorly - who knows it’s most likely ‘man ‘flu’, so could be deadly!
Volvo Ocean Race
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