Ericsson 4 Leg Five Day 37

Hi,

We are slowly progressing towards Rio and we still have a lot to go.  We just passed the projection line boarder between Brazil and Uruguay, but still we are below Montevideo in latitude, so in theory we are in Brazilian extended waters, which makes us feel a bit at home for Torben (Torben Grael), Joca (Joca Signorini) and me.

I've been sailing along this coast a good part of my life and normally to Rio is a light upwind trip at this time of the year unless you catch a front coming from south. Sailing itself has been pleasant in moderate winds, flat water and quite clear skies, much better than three – four days ago where we were fully dressed with all the underlayers we had available.

Nipper (Guy Salter MCM) has reorganised the food for the second time, every time making the day bag emptier, so it will be a painful 800miles from here.

The distance between the boats has changed quite a bit as we pass through the west of a high pressure area, gaining and losing on each sked.  It’s difficult to say what will happen in the end we have to deal with the approach to Guanabara Bay that can be very tricky. According to the planning we should be in by the 25th at noon, so if we are lucky we have three more nights left in the lady that had carried us by more than 12500nm!! I'm really looking forward to stepping on solid land at Marina da Gloria, have a shower and sleep in a normal bed!!

Horacio Carabelli - Trimmer