The crew of Jamaica are taking a typically laid-back approach to their overnight move into third place. “We’re chillin’ and jammin’” is the standard greeting from skipper, Simon Bradley. His team’s decision to stay out the west of Madeira and the Canary Islands has paid dividends and while the rest of the fleet have been drifting at a few knots, Jamaica has been powering south westwards and racking up the miles.

The crews that have been becalmed in the Canaries for the last 48 hours will now be breathing a sigh of relief as their boat speed starts to pick up. With the 12-hourly runs of these boats now in the region of 50 miles the crews can concentrate on trying to catch the leaders. That won’t be an easy task as Nova Scotia, Durban 2010 and Beyond and Jamaica have all posted more than 100 miles in the last 12 hours and are still clearly in stronger winds as they romp away from the rest of the fleet. 

Race Director Joff Bailey says, “The last few days have been a good, if not bitter, lesson to the crews about ocean yacht racing. Pushing hard early, possibly damaging equipment and then sailing into a wind hole is not the way to win races. The lead boats still have at least a day’s sailing, if not more, before they hit the steady trade winds. That means the chasing pack has more than two days to reach the trades and the wind forecast for that region still shows some light patches.”

Each of the tacticians on board will now be looking at the next obstacles ahead of them. There are now two hurdles to overcome: the Cape Verde Islands and the ITCZ (Doldrums).

Explaining the decisions facing the tacticians on board, Joff says, “The Cape Verde Islands with peaks at over 2800 metres can cause some of the same wind shadows the that Canary Islands cast so the tacticians will be trying to avoid that in light of their recent experience.”

One good thing after a day or so of drifting will be that the crews would have undertaken a lot of running maintenance and sail repair. Daily life on board revolves around a routine of eating, sleeping and working. From the outside it may appear that the crews only have to sail the boats, in fact the secret of winning ocean races, indeed any yacht races, is to keep all the systems and the sails in top condition with routine maintenance and repairs. So generators and water makers will be serviced, spinnakers repaired, chafe on lines will be repaired and the list goes on. It is a fact that the wining boats are also the best looked after boat with the least sail damage.

On Hull & Humber they have been trying to track down a diesel leak. Crew member Stephen Osborne writes, “Diesel has a particularly pungent smell, unpleasant and, some say, the actual cause of their sea sickness, rather than the rough seas of last week. The liquid’s ability to soak into clothes to persist in a bilge and to continue to smell for weeks makes it a particularly nasty enemy.”

Michelle Fanneran, crew member on Uniquely Singapore says so far they haven’t really had time to do much other than sail the boat but, becalmed in the Canaries, they have had a moment to reflect on their great adventure. “We sat on the rail today in the glorious sunshine and discussed tactics but as the conversation abated, it was interesting to note how many people were content to just sit silently and lookout to sea,” she writes. “We’re a terrific team. We get on famously. We care about sailing fast and looking after our beautiful boat and after each other but best of all, thanks to a wonderful ethos instilled in us by our skipper, Mark, and adopted by everyone, we care about having an amazing time and our main aim remains to be at the finish having had the time of our lives.”