Just like 2010!

The passage through the Cook Strait has bunched the fleet up again, creating a situation similar to the start back in Barcelona.  With the exception of the two leading yachts, who have stretched out a lead of more than 1000 nautical miles, the following pack are now battling it out at close quarters (all within an area of 600 nautical miles).  “It doesn’t change our game plan too much,” explains Dominique.  “We’re flat out anyway, doing our best with the conditions we have.”
From her side, Michèle Paret has made a good recovery following the health problems experienced during the Indian Ocean passage.  “For once I find myself in front of the computer without my head torch on, as it’s daytime,” she explained whilst blogging from Mirabaud.  “Maybe my body clock is out now that we are further east!  We’ve crossed the International Date Line and this always comes with a certain amount of deep reflection and a bit of disorganization (of the organized variety, I can assure you!) as we try and figure out which day it is and reset all the various clocks and instruments on board before we lag behind the rest of the world!
If our brains are too tired and befuddled, and we’ve lost the ability to think logically, then we have to use the back up solution: the GPS!  It’s always worth checking that we haven’t got things the wrong way round and that we are in fact 12 hours ahead of Barcelona and not 12 hours behind

If I was to send you a postcard for today, the 25th of February, it would be a pretty grey and uninteresting one.  We’re sitting in a dying south-westerly breeze with the autopilot pretty much taking care of everything.  We give it a poke now and again.  I think you’ve got the picture: it’s not exactly the most stressful or tiring situation, except maybe for my finger!  So, we’re getting the chance for a well-needed rest mid-way round the world.  We can catch up on some sleep without being violently woken, which is something we really need at this stage.”
We’re constantly keeping an eye on this storm ‘Atu’ though, which is moving southwards.  We should just pass in front of it which will mean strong winds but nothing unmanageable.  On the other hand, there is another area of high pressure in our path…we hope it won’t slow us down too much, in which case we will have to rethink our strategy.”