While the Nautor Challenge Amer Sports One boys are at the front of the fleet battling with the elements working hard to keep Illbruck behind them, the Nautor Challenge girls on Amer Sports Too are desperately trying to move out of last position. Reporting from the boat Lisa McDonald [skipper] explained the situation the Yachting World:

The past few days have seen storm clouds swirling us around and spitting us out at different directions but the hunger for the win gets stronger every day. During the frustrating periods of shifty winds, food seems to be the main topic of conversation. And while our on-board menu still pleases the palette, thoughts of fresh food and drink are never far from ones mind or lips.

Daily chat seems to cover what we will eat and drink on arrival, what our closest rivals might be eating onboard now or how much/little, what we would like to see of Capetown (should time permit of course) and what we need to do to prepare for the vast Southern Ocean. Capetown seems so close yet so far, we have under 2,000nm to go and the racing is as intense as it was at the start – we watch every flinch and calculate every move we make. We have one more big move to make and patience, speed and effort have every part of that to play. We are wondering what movies are in the cinema these days, how things are at home – so many different ones to talk about, will there be a full scale war in our homelands?

The boys out in front have just hooked into some good breeze and they are making fast tracks to Capetown, we know big days are possible and we must be patient and wait for ours…

From 23 degrees south

Lisa McDonald