ERICSSON 3 EMAIL: 'Everyone is moving around like hard-working ants'

Saturday 22 November 2008 11:19 GMT

Ericsson 3 - Gustav Morin – (Media Crew Member)

We are now sailing in 10 knots of wind and almost flat water and it’s a golden opportunity to fix everything that needs to be fixed. Everyone is moving around like hard working ants.

The wind has dropped and the heat has arrived. It’s amazing how fast the change from full wet weather gear, fleece and boots went to only shorts.

We have very nice sailing conditions but even so it’s been a frustrating 24 hours for us. The entire fleet has made big gains on us and Ericsson 4 has passed us on their more easterly route.

It did not get better when we had to stop to remove a big bag who got stuck on the keel.

On the plus side is that we realised very quickly that something was wrong and went to have a look in the endoscope, to find a big bag wrapped around the fin. In just a few minutes we had stopped the boat, sailed backwards for a couple of meters, got rid of the bag and then started sailing again.

We have definitely improved since the same thing happened on the first leg.

On the last sched we had gained on Ericsson 4 and Green Dragon. But they have a better angle than us and we have to fight hard to stay at the top.

For the moment we are aiming on reaching the trade winds as soon as possible and getting a good angle into the Doldrums. After the Doldrums we are expecting a good westerly breeze and as we get closer to India the wind will probably drop.

During this pretty calm moment we are also trying to spend some quality-time in our bunks, regaining some of the sleep we have missed out of the last couple of days.

Received 11:19 GMT