Xabi (Xabier Fernandez) suggested our boat was a bit like a whale this morning - spending long periods under water then pausing briefly coming up for air. As you've guessed it, things are still pretty wet onboard, or at least they were until just a few hours ago when the wind and the nasty sea state with it eased off a bit. This is both good and bad for us.

Good as now everyone who has worked so hard over the last few days can finally catch up on some rest and sleep through the majority of their off watch. Bad as now we have a choice of sails to use but none of them are ideal for the angle we would like to sail. We daren't put up the A2 - three blow ups in three days would just be too much so we are forced to take it a little bit easier and use a smaller sails. So far we have done a good job of holding the speed despite the small sails.

Sadly I haven't done so well preventing the miles from slipping away from us on the track. I continue to berate myself for opportunities missed seeing Delta Lloyd flying up the rankings and out of our grasp. I keep telling myself there are plenty of miles to go but it is hard to fight the feeling of guilt inside when I look at the scheds. I am afraid I have to go though a few more bad ones until things may improve. Deep down I know that we can still do well in this leg so I am going to get some rest and come back to the navstation with fresh eyes and mind in when the new weather data arrives.

Cheers,

Si Fi. (Simon Fisher - navigator).

Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for all the latest news!

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with in-port racing, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race.

Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews.