Green Dragon Leg 4 Day 7

Salomague Bay in the Philippines is not exactly what I had planned for tonight, but here I am, sedately typing away in a beautifully calm anchorage.

We have decided to 'suspend racing', which means we have to wait at least 12 hours to rejoin the race but we will need at least that to fix the Dragon.

It has been a day of attrition in the Volvo Ocean Race and having been out there, I can see why. Conditions were not horrific, but 40+ knots and fairly big seas made for tough going upwind. We thought long and hard about stopping for 24 hours to save the boat and sails, but instead decided to carry on at a far reduced pace. This compromise would mean 12-24 hours of hard going, but then very good conditions from then on.

Unfortunately, we didn't last the tough going as we sustained damage in the bow of the boat. Fortunately, we spotted it quickly and managed to stop the boat and get downwind before damaging the hull skin.

As I type this at 3am Tom Braidwood, Neal McDonald and Justin Slattery are chiselling, sanding, cutting and preparing to bond back all the broken bits. We have to hope their repair holds out to get us to Qingdao. Tomorrow Phil Harmer will supervise taking off and repairing the mainsail as well as two other sails damaged in the onslaught. Everyone else is resting right now after a full on day apart from Budgie (Ian Budgen/GBR) who is on 'anchor watch'.

I am hoping to get underway again soon - as soon as the conditions subside. The race is on to get to Qingdao before the weather turns against us again up north. It feels totally bizarre to be anchored during a race and I am quite looking forward to daylight to see what this place looks like. The funniest thing is that no more than 100 metres away from us sits Delta Lloyd, who must also have turned back and sought shelter - the locals will not know what has hit them when they see two Volvo 70s moored outside in the morning.

I am still hoping locals in canoes offering us chilled Heineken and fresh fruit may yet greet us, but maybe I'll have to leave that to my dreams. Time I went to bed!

Ian Walker - Skipper