Today has been another day of beating upwind in 16 -18 knots, sometimes a bit less, so you can imagine we have been on the verge of the optimal performance for the J1 and J2.  The guys up there have had a very busy day, trying to push hard to catch up with the boats ahead, quite close indeed, and to put miles between us and the rear of the fleet.

There has been a notice from the race committee that they have added a new waypoint somehow 100 miles west of Manila, in the Philippines, so the tack we are expecting due to the shift to the right will take us to a further one ahead to take the new waypoint to port.

The rest is common life on board a Volvo 70 upwind: if you are in a hurry to go aft, either to go to the nav station or to the media desk, or just to check the rudders, you go to leeward, as every single thing onboard is on the windward side, otherwise you go slowly, dodging all the stuff you can imagine through the boat on the windward side. And, not to forget Arguiñano's affair: cook beating upwind. Not an easy task when dealing with chopped garlic, parsley and so on... to prepare a delicious meal of pasta to enjoy one of the very best moments on board: lunchtime when it is proper food!

Cheers
Mikel Pasabant - MCM