Not a great day onboard Ericsson 4 - we watched a 30+ mile lead turn into a deficit of 10 miles in six hours, the victim of the Malacca Straits and its very light winds.
We were caught five miles further offshore than the chasing pack with our path blocked by a few small islands and a complete lack of wind.
It was also 37+ degrees inside the boat today - so the only comfort has to be had on deck, and with Telefónica Blue, Ericsson 3 and Puma all within view - it has really got the boys working hard - there is no way they will roll over after all the effort that had been invested to reach the scoring gate in first.
We had managed to get within 300m of Puma in a drifting race with only the tide moving us both - but they have now stretched this back out to around a mile - but its never say die onboard and we will keep the pressure on all in front of us until we find the opportunity to pass.
It has been very positive onboard - everyone was obviously gutted to be passed - but why waste time and effort on regrets - and so the attitude became one of trying to drag ourselves back into the action and with around 200 nm to go we feel there may be one or two chances to do this.
The potential is in place for a real fight to the finish - so stay tuned, just hope the weather plays ball!
Guy Salter MCM
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