Magic sailing is the only way to describe the conditions out here at the moment, Sailing along in beautiful blue water, 11-15 knots of wind and 15-20 knots of boat speed.

Ericsson 3 is enjoying the conditions and so are her crew. We seem to be tied together with a rubber band to Ericsson 4, our sister ship. Sched for sched we are gaining and losing small amounts. We can see them to leeward at the moment, unbelievable that the boats and the speeds can be so close.

We had Magnus Olsson back on deck today. He has a suspected broken rib that has been very painful and kept him in-his bunk for several days. It was nice to get him steering and moving a little bit, smiling again. Back to his old self. We were a bit worried there that he was going to try and catch up on all the sleep he has missed in the last 60 years, but in typical Magnus fashion you can't keep a good man down, especially him.

From a personal view it is fantastic to be back out here with the lads, it is incredible to see what this team has become. They were always a great bunch of sailors, but now they are a very well established bunch of Volvo sailors who can no longer be called rookies. The guys are always aiming for the top, thinking outside the box, how can we go faster, shall we try this? Sounds a little strange but why not, if it works in a 49er it can work here. I think being able to think outside the normal realms is one of this team’s great strengths.

It looks as there is going to be a fantastic battle in the closing stages of this leg. It is shaping up for another Singapore finish with boats finishing within seconds of one another. Everything we can do now may mean the difference between a place in six days time.

Time to head of to the bunk, for a couple of hours in the sweat box; it is a lot more pleasant on deck at the moment.

Looking forward to Boston. The talk on deck this last watch is that we should auction of our Media Man Gustav Morin for a dinner in Boston to the highest bidder and give the proceeds to one of the Millennium goals that we are representing while we are sailing. Any Takers?

Back to Racing.

Richard Mason - Watch Captain