Ericsson 4 Leg Five Day 23

Ahhh, what a relief. Finally the breeze has swung enough to let us ease sheets and get the good ship going fast and in the right direction. It has been days now that our distance to the finish has not budged, so what a pleasure the past 24 hours were, to be doing 20kts and heading east. Last night was rather wet and bumpy, but today the weather Gods smiled upon us and this after noon featured some champagne yachting under warm, blue skies.

The mood onboard has also perked up today, particularly as the three hourly scheds started to show us closing a little on Puma and Ericsson 3 stretching out at the front of the fleet. Time now for us to push hard and let our trusty Ericsson 4 get back to within striking distance on these guys. Conditions below are relatively pleasant with the temperature cool enough for you to really appreciate snuggling into the still dry sleeping bags.

The freeze dried food, and at times, very marginal snacks, are really starting to become pretty monotonous. I get the feeling that everyone on board is starting to lose quite a bit of weight (not necessarily a bad thing for some) and I'm sure we will be a sorry sight at the finish with hollow cheeks and five week’s beard growth. Although it must be said that one exception to this is Tony who brought a razor along. He seems to be gaining great pleasure from grooming his newly formed goatee beard of somewhat perfect proportions considering that there is no mirror onboard and I assume he is operating from his reflection in the curved, stainless steel kettle.

That’s all for now folks.

Ryan Godfrey - Bowman