RACE 11 - DAY 22 SKIPPER REPORT

Hi guys, welcome aboard. It's hot in the daytime, really hot. Jody Shaw, Red Watch leader, climbed the mast today.

We have been working hard as always making sure the boat is progressing as fast as we can. One way we can save a few minutes here and there is to peel our spinnakers. This involves hoisting a second preferred spinnaker at the same time as the existing one before dropping the original. It's a pretty awesome evolution but it can go terribly wrong if not managed well.

When we have done two peels we have to send someone up the rig to the top of the mast to untwist our halyards. This time it was Jody volunteering. Doeke came up on deck to assist and successfully it was all changed over. Thankfully our wind picked up a little and we didn't have to hoist our Code 1 again. For now we’re making good progress under Code 2 for a few more hours. We expect this to change in the coming hours, ironically just before Finish Gate 1. This is why we are diving a little south for a few hours on the basis we may have a few knots more pressure and avoid a possible shut down close to shore.

Meanwhile team Qingdao Victualler Di recovers in hospital after being medevaced for an eye operation. She emailed us on board and said she is out of the operation and they believe it has been successful. I await further details...

So as we approach the various Finish Gates, I try to keep the crew informed about the upcoming weather and how our progress to each gate compares to the fleets from when they transited the same places. Hopefully we can gain at least some points in this race.

Moving forward however there are vast areas with no breeze so it's almost impossible to say what to expect in any more than our next 24 hours. Wish us luck until the next update.