Aboard Temenos II, a better wind on the other tack and the creation of a zone of calm below Australia have forced Michele and Dominique to put a little southing into their course by gybing overnight. Though the two co-skippers will be doing everything they can to avoid sailing in strong winds so as they can preserve the keel of their boat as best they can, getting stopped in high pressure was far from the best solution for the duo either.
A short message was sent from onboard in the early hours by Michele: "We've just finished a gybe, the second of the night. With this cold you end up with numb fingers every time. The quickest way I've found of warming your hands up is to light the stove and pass your fingers over the flame, being careful not to get too close to it all the same!
We have dropped down to 53 degrees South, and have lost the few little degrees we gained yesterday. The water, air, man, everything gets cold very quickly as soon as you head towards the Antarctic.
On port tack, we have the damaged side of the keel exposed again. For the time being it looks relatively stable, but it's difficult to measure to the nearest millimeter as there is permanent spray over that area. I'm avoiding thinking about it too much but I must go and take a look at it about ten times a day, and I see Dom doing the same, without referring to it any more than me. -- translation by Kate Jennings.
* Meanwhile, out on the race course, Hugo Boss has put on a powerful and impressive display of speed. Skipper Alex Thomson has clawed back over 90 miles in the past 24 hours as Hugo Boss chases Paprec-Virbac 2 up to the Australian safety gate. Both are expected to pass the gate! later today before bearing off and heading for Cook Strait; and this afternoon, it's clear the pace of Hugo Boss is making skipper Alex Thomson very happy.
"We've made up loads of miles. It's a mixture of it being the right conditions for this boat and Paprec in front of us have had less wind," said an understated Alex Thomson. "But we haven't really been pushing very hard. It's been pretty relaxed. Been getting lots of sleep and watched a great movie last night.We were shocked and disappointed to hear about Veolia this morning. It's a stark reminder of how fragile we all are out here."
It's a different story on board the race leader, Paprec-Virbac 2, where co-skipper Damian Foxall sounded tired and more than a little frustrated.
"We're pushing water uphill," he said. "For a couple of days now we have been sailing along a very slow moving front and there's nowhere we can go apart from straight forward. There are light winds ahead and there's fresh wind coming in from behind with Hugo Boss.we've really got a race on our hands."
Day 38 - December 18, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader
1. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean Pierre Dick / Damian Foxall - 0
2. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson / Andrew Cape - 38
3. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain / Jean Luc Nelias - Dismasted
4. Temenos 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele Paret- 1295
5. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso / Pachi Rivero - 1950
6. Educacion Sin Fronteras - Servane Escoffier / Albert Bargues - 2702
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