The race effectively restarted late yesterday when the breeze filled in for all the boats that were stuck in a windless hole some 500 miles from the finish. All the boats ran into a ridge of high pressure that was perpendicular to the course block any sort of progress. As we sat hardly moving, we saw boats that we’d been leading by hundreds of miles whittle this down to almost single figures as they brought the new wind down with them. Like a Formula 1 race where a driver has built up a large lead only for the cars to compress again when the safety car comes out, we now find ourselves in a drag race east with boats closely bunched around us.

The main boat for us to beat, fellow Class 40 Dragon, having been over 300 miles behind at one point, is now just 10 miles back. Don’t worry we are watching their every move on the tracker to protect our position.