"The conditions are really not something to laugh about. We've got 35 knots of wind with gusts between 45-50. It's very variable, there are squalls that you don't see coming and chaotic seas, it's really hairy right now. In addition, I’m close to the islands so it's not easy to adjust my trajectory. I had a bad night and I haven't yet managed to catch the strongest wind.

The sequence of the endless Doldrums, the complicated ridge of high pressure behind me, plus this depression in the middle of the Azores, is wearing me down. The problem is also that with all this sea, I’m not making any progress. I've just taken the third reef as it was getting crazy and I've loaded the ballast tanks so that the boat doesn't accelerate too much. When it eases off at 30 knots, I don't make enough progress. For the arrivals, the weather systems aren't looking favourable either, I’m falling behind a bit. Things don’t seem to be working in my favour at the moment.   

I wanted to pass to the South of Sao Miguel to try to get a little less wind, but the wind was much more towards the left last night, I would have had to gybe to find myself on the same trajectory as Romain. We swapped this morning, it's the same for him. 


The boat is doing well, it's more the skipper who is starting to get tired. I say that every day, but I'm anxious for it to end. The routing is changing, and I lose half a day every day. It's part of the game, I'll be careful, the idea now is really to finish. "