received 20.12.08 1330 GMT
We still have wind as we close down on the approach to Malacca Straits, which we can be thankful for as it looks like the traditionally light air passage ahead will give us plenty of headaches.
We will be preparing our anchor and getting ourselves in the mindset for some very busy wind seeking. Our decision to load the boat lightly for this leg seems so far to have been OK for us and we hope that it continues to pay off for the last few hundred miles of light air work.
It is always an interesting discussion that takes place before the start of a leg on how to load the boat and where to save weight, be it spares, food, clothing, fuel, sails and even, in an extreme case, whether to leave crew members off. We felt that it was still early enough in the race and the leg was still long enough not to go too extreme so we still have all our crew onboard and a reasonable spares package.
The food programme on the other hand has taken a bit of a hit especially in our normally generous snack department. This has led to many complaints, and is even worse with the introduction of a rationing programme as this leg stretches out. I suspect our leg debrief will address the area of food as number one on the agenda!
We have relinquished comforts such as mattresses, sleeping bags and some clothing, not that these are great hardships in the hot temperatures! One area we have not pushed the limit is toothbrushes. Once upon a time even toothbrushes were cut in half in the extreme hunt for weight saving in the Volvo Ocean Race, but not this time for us. Have you actually ever tried brushing your teeth with a toothbrush with most of the handle cut off? Not an easy operation and not one we were prepared to take on for this leg. Maybe a future leg will require that level of commitment to weight saving, we will have to see...
Stu Bannatyne – watch captain
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