An update from Charles: We have a small lead on MAPFRE but the weather might not favour us over the next few days

"The team has done a fantastic job since the start to keep our position and I know they will never give up and we are ready to push the extra mile."

Hello

We have managed to make a very small break from MAPFRE. So we are bit more relaxed on board, and it’s an opportunity for a break for Pascal and myself who have spent so much time checking their speed on AIS.

But with seven days to go to the finish line, this small lead is nothing and the situation ahead does not give us any advantage over them. The wind will come back from behind and, for sure, the fleet will compress a lot.

So for us this is not good news but for you watching the game from home over the next three or four days, you will have some fun.

This race is far from finished and everybody in this fleet is a potential danger to us, but the good news is we will catch perfect winds ahead of a low pressure system to the south of us.

On board the temperature has decreased a lot since yesterday and life is much more comfortable.

There is no very exciting news here - it’s been a normal day at the office - but we have a nice office and a nice job so there is a happy mood on board.

I would definitely prefer a better forecast to reduce the stress a bit. Leading the fleet since the start is nice but it’s stressful because the finishing line approaches slowly and losing this first place would be very hard to take.

But the team has done a fantastic job since the start to keep our position and I know they will never give up and we are ready to push the extra mile.

Have a nice day.

Charles