Week three began with Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA) leading the fleet in their charge south to skirt the South Atlantic High. But they had company. PUMA (Ken Read / USA) was just a few miles to leeward, and Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) and the Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR) were all in a tight bunch.

"Three's company out here in the Atlantic," wrote Ken Read cheerfully. "We have been accused of making this a match race so far because we have been in very close contact with Ericsson 4 for just about half of the race. So today, we lost Ericsson 4 off to leeward and on comes Telefónica Black to take their spot in rotation."

Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking / NED) also had unwelcome company, but not in the form of another boat.

"It seems to be a dangerous strip of highway we are on today," wrote navigator Simon Fisher. "We had a very near miss with a nasty-looking log, covered in barnacles and metal and all sorts of things that would be perfect for removing appendages."

"After a quick breath of relief, and some joking about how we may have found ourselves in Rio some months sooner than planned, we had another near miss. This time is was something living. We couldn't make out properly what it was, but, judging by the hole it left in the water, and the speed it went away, it was pretty big and not best pleased to see us. We'll be sure to keep our eyes peeled for the rest of the afternoon," he said.

As the fleet raced on, everyone was preparing to ride a 40 knot westerly gale, straight to Cape Town. The crews were trying to get as much rest as possible. Cooking was going to be difficult, so topping up on freeze-dried food was also a priority. Everyone was triple checking their areas of responsibility and concentrating on the onslaught that lay ahead.

But, on day 17, 27 October, the fleet was still playing the waiting game. Speeds were beginning to edge up as the fleet curved around the South Atlantic High, but although it seemed tempting to cut the corner and sail less miles to Cape Town, sailing too close to the light airs in the centre of the high was not worth the risk.

At 13:00 GMT, Ericsson 4 continued to lead the fleet, with PUMA just five, miles behind, but the fleet was beginning to stretch out and third-placed Green Dragon was now 27 nm behind the leader.

Day 18 finally brought big waves and with them big action. Six hundred nm runs were looking possible and the pressure was mounting for the leading two boats, Ericsson 4 and PUMA. They were back in sight of each other, just 100 metres apart. "We knew they would be back," reported Ken Read when Ericsson hove into sight. But, with foresight, he added, "The first boat to break loose will win."

Further back in the fleet, the American navigator of Delta Lloyd, Matt Gregory described the storm brewing as the 'gateway to hell'.

'Record Day' came on day 19 when Ericsson 4 eclipsed the world record of 561nm set by ABN AMRO TWO in the 2005-06 event, covering 593.23 nm in 24-hours, averaging a speed of 24.71 knots in conditions less than ideal for a record-setting run.

"It is a great achievement, but we were not really looking for it," said skipper Torben Grael in a radio interview that day. "Conditions are marginal," he said. "We have been pretty much on the edge. Perhaps if we had a better sea state, we might be able to go faster, but it is hard to go faster with waves like this," he added.

Clinging on to third place, Ian Walker wrote from Green Dragon, "This is insane. Thirty-five knots of wind, pitch black, 1,500 miles from land and we are desperately trying to squeeze more speed from a boat that feels and sounds like it is going to self destruct any second."

Later that night, Ericsson 4 broke loose and smashed through the magic 600 nm barrier and posted a new record of 602.66 nm, which will be passed to the World Sailing Speed Record Council for official ratification. PUMA, by now, was 34 nm behind.

As Ericsson 4 continued to display masterful control of the fleet, further back Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) was not so fortunate. In seas of over eight metres, Telefónica Black launched off a particularly large wave. The crew momentarily lost control of the boat and crash landed only to find that one of the rudders had sheared off and part of the dagger board and the bowsprit were gone. Luckily, none of the crew was injured and the damage to the yacht was quickly assessed. The crew mounted their emergency rudder and pressed on.

That night was the night from hell. "I don't really know where to start as the last 24-hours have been so incident-packed," wrote Ian Walker, whose Green Dragon hit something hard in the pitch dark. "There was a deafening crash and the boat went from 25 knots to a virtual standstill," he explained. "Neal McDonald / GBR, who was helming, smashed the wheel and everyone else fell over," he said. The crew inspected the hull, foils and keel for damage and reported that all seemed fine except from a huge vibration which later cleared itself.

Telefónica Blue, in fifth place reported 40 knots of wind, lots of rain and big gusts as the front rolled over them. The fleet spread out, as, one by one, the boats were left in the wake of the storm, which left behind it huge seas and vicious squalls.

Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue both took a dive south, while the two Ericsson boats stayed in the north. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) in seventh, and Delta Lloyd, in eighth also opted for the southerly route, while the wounded Telefónica Black limped, with her emergency rudder, midway between the split of the fleet.

Day 21, 31 October, and the big black cat, PUMA, went into StealthPlay, emerging at 13:00 GMT 92 miles to the north. The field was spread across a north / south divide of 565nm with 596 separating Ericsson 4 in front and the limping Telefónica Black at the back. While PUMA headed north, Telefónica Blue and Green Dragon headed south. Team Russia was further south still, and Ericsson 3 sat midway between the two groups.

For the boats in the south, the temperatures started to drop as they reached the latitude of 35 degrees south. Telefónica expected to go as far as 40 degrees south before turning north towards Cape Town.

Cold means 'Albatross' territory and the magnificent birds were spotted by several boats. The crew of Telefónica Black reported seeing see two birds circling the boat for several hours. This team needed luck, and the Albatross is considered by seafarers to be a good omen. "Let's hope so," said MCM Mikel Pasabant. "What is true is the magnificence of these birds flying. Amazing," he added.

The crew of Delta Lloyd (Ger O'Rourke / IRL) also had some flying visitors. Navigator, Matt Gregory / USA, was released from the nav station briefly and given the helm. "I pushed the throttle through the floorboards as hard as I could," he said. "Then, as if I couldn't be having more fun, this morning became legendary as an Albatross pulled up along side us. She glided, without a single flap of her wings, only 50 metres away, for 20 minutes. This is the first one I've ever seen. Overwhelmed with excitement, I realised this is just about as good as it gets."

Telefónica Blue spotted their first Albatross too - a sign that they were getting further south. "It would have been three years since I last saw one of these birds but they still look just as amazing with their massive wingspan soaring above the waves," wrote Simon Fisher.

"The sun is shining, the wind has eased a little and the waves are just that little bit smaller, so everything on Telefónica Blue today is a little bit easier," he said.

Weather-routeing software is predicting a finish for Ericsson 4 in Cape Town of around 09:00 GMT on Sunday, 2 November, bringing a fine conclusion to this 6,500 opening leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.

Leg 1 Day 21: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to leader)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) DTF 605
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +76
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander / SWE) +312
Green Dragon IRL / CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +359
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +447
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) +533
Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O'Rourke / IRL) +540
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) +596

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.