received 16.11.08 0808 GMT
If there was a prize for tenacity then I think my crew deserve it. We do not have the speed of the Ericsson, Telefónica or Puma boats and it is not easy to see them putting miles on us whenever we are near them. All we can do is continue to squeeze every ounce of speed we can out of the Dragon and work hard on our steering, trimming and sail changes.
Eighty percent of this race has been a drag race where miles have slipped away but in the other 20 percent we have fortunately made good calls that seem to have kept us in the race.
The last 48 hours have been brutal with up to 3.5 knots of current against us on the Southern tip of Sri Lanka and light headwinds. Because of the piracy marks, there was no way of getting to shallower water and we finally concluded we had to take the somewhat drastic action of heading south to escape the current's clutches.
We had been sailing for hours making no more than 2 knots and often nothing towards the finish so we had to do something. We didn't really want to go south but had to bite the bullet. We also noticed that Telefónica Black had made some gains that way. So south we went and sure enough the current finally reduced and we started to pull bearing on the fleet. Both Telefónica boats have also done this nicely and have the jump on the other frontrunners. Now we are trying desperately to get back north a bit, so we aren’t hung out to dry down south where lighter winds await. Still 3rd place at this stage is quite an achievement and keeps the spirits up.
There is not much to report on life onboard except it is hot and sweaty. I have only put my waterproofs on once and I suspect that might be it for the leg. Steve Hayles continues to do a great job navigating in very difficult circumstances and James Carroll is settling in nicely. There are no signs of any pirates yet but we have come pretty close twice to colliding with fishing boats - one incident in particular in the middle of the night was described by Neal as 'the closest he has ever come to hitting one!' - I guess that’s too close for comfort then.
Ian Walker - skipper
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