"The trade winds have come in and last night we finally had a more stable and things are going well, no more squalls, and things are a bit easier! The Brazilian coast is behind us and we have turned "corner" and in less than 24 hours, we'll be at the entrance to the doldrums. For the moment, things do not seem too bad, nor do they appear to be too wide, but it is an area where everything can change ery fast in a few hours. But at least it shouldn't be too "wide". The important thing is the exit to attack the North Atlantic! I think that my passage will be more to the West, but nothing is totally defined yet. I don’t’ think we will have to attempt the crossing too far to the east.

 

I would have to tackle the trade winds between 80° and 90° of wind: that would be the optimum to reach the ridge of high pressure that we see south of the Azores at the end of the week. The foiling boats are like aeroplanes at these speeds! At the moment, we have 24 rather pleasant hours ahead, especially as in the North Atlantic, we should have a stronger trade wind than the one we have at the moment; we should make the most of it, but also take care to not break! These are nice conditions, and if we need to rest, we also need to go fast and fix the little things that remain to be done before the final sprint.

 

Whilst the sailing conditions are comfortable and things are going well, I do spend a lot of time on the weather forecasts to work out where is best to cross the doldrums. Given the small gaps between the boats, it is the chance of coming out either front or behind depending on how it goes! The leading peloton is stretching out at the moment, but we'll have to see how it pans out...".