I feel a bit odd today - maybe it's because I have just had 4 hours sleep - my longest stint of the trip so far and the first time I have slept through 2 position reports.

The reports haven't made great reading recently so I am glad to have missed them. Its tricky out here - I have no idea how it can be so shifty so far out to sea. We are focusing on lining up for the Doldrums right now and there is a 'tropical wave' ahead of us (please note that onboard whenever anybody says 'tropical wave' everyone else does a Mexican wave! - is this the first sign of madness onboard I wonder?). This will mean a fast transition for some and could spell trouble for others.

Right now it looks like the further ahead you are the better shape you will be in - we need to keep pushing hard. Anyway spirits remain high and were boosted when Damian got hit in the face by a flying fish in the night. I am not sure what was funnier the direct hit or Damian trying to get it out of the cockpit.

I am going to start spending more time on deck as I spend so much time watching the computer and studying weather info that I feel the race is more of a 'virtual experience' right now. Whenever you are on deck it is fantastic sailing - we haven't seen any other signs of human life since the Canaries and very little wildlife. Thankfully only a few small pilot whales and lots of various dolphins.

Thanks for following the Green Dragon as she heads south and nears the Cape Verde Islands.

Ian Walker - skipper.

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.