We have been on the receiving end now for roughly 36 hours, losing mile after mile, which is part of the game. I don’t think it will stop for at least another 20 hours, as then finally the others will hit the wall as well. 

I have seen this happen several times in previous round the world races and also in this race it happened a few times, so we are fully preparing ourselves for a re-start.  This leg can become another very close one.

Of course we want to win, but can see as well that it serves our sport and the Volvo Ocean Race big time if we have this close racing going on. We might be still in the driving seat, but having the others closer brings also that extra adrenaline pumping through your veins, as the racing gets even more exciting.

All are well onboard, good food, no health issues and finally a day with no spray over the decks. So yesterday was a day for drying gear out, plus working a bit on the tan, by getting  some sun rays on our bodies.  Not too forget lots of our guys actually shaved their ‘beard’ off, which is something totally new, as normally I am the only one who does this. I know Xabi (Xabier Fernandez) had some pressure from his son, who doesn’t like to see his father looking like a pirate, but the others???

The remainder of this leg looks like to go relatively quickly and we might be in for a Sunday day time finish, which of course would be excellent to kick off the Boston stopover.

Bouwe Bekking - skipper