Admittedly this has been a windward leg so far but there are still 700 miles to go to Recife, as the crews work their way through day four at sea.
The generally benign conditions are continuing but as the boats put the Campos oil field behind them and the western edges of the windless centre of the St Helena High, they are now sailing into stronger easterly winds. This means they can ease sheets and put the foot down as they head towards the northeastern corner of Brazil.
There is an interesting west-east spread in the fleet with Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag furthest west, up to 80 miles west of Turn the Tide on Plastic, the easternmost boat.
On board Dongfeng, the crew is working hard to keep speeds up with the wind varying from 12-15 knots, requiring constant headsail changes. The breeze has also been shifty and clouds and rain showers are always lurking, ready to trap the unwary.
The crew has been reflecting on how the various different nationalities combine to work as a team. Dongfeng Race Team includes French sailors, Chinese, New Zealanders, Dutch, and one Australian/Brit, in bowman Jack Bouttell.
“On board Dongfeng we have a lot of different nationalities, plus also sailing backgrounds. I think everyone on the boat has a different way of doing things,” said Jack.
“I think we have found quite a good balance to make it work for everyone. Everyone has quite a good attitude and everyone suggests something, then we will find the best way to do it. There are no egos or anything like that which is really nice,” he added.
Here’s Daryl Wislang’s take on it: “It can be challenging at times to get the right message across, but we have all worked really hard on that during the training and understand each other and get on really well together.”
And finally the mighty Chen Jinhao, also known as Horace; “In China if we are from different parts of the city, we speak different languages. We will do one thing altogether. It is not about the different countries. Everybody learns, everybody fights.”
Position report at 01h00 UTC:
1 - Vestas 11th Hour 801nm from Newport
2 -Turn The Tide of Plastic 1.8nm
3 - Scallywag 2nm
4 - Team Brunel 2.2nm
5 - Dongfeng Race Team 3.5nm
6 - AkzoNobel 4.8m
7 - MAPFRE 5.1nm
