So, having extolled the virtues yesterday of our solo watches and good sleep patterns, the last 24 hours have provided a fairly disturbed period so the crew are definitely not feeling well rested today.

We have been working our way round the south end of a depression for a couple of days, which has meant that we have been beating to windward in 18-20 kts of wind. What! No one said we would have to beat to windward! This was meant to be a flat and whooshy downwind sail with puffy white clouds. Anyway, beating to windward we have been. Barracuda has many virtues but beating hard to windward when reefed down is not her strongest hand, so the last 24 hours have been a bit of a slog. We tried west, then south, to see which was the making tack given wind, waves and currents. The conclusion was a long fast run through the night to the west to build miles towards our destination for a while. Then this morning as the wind shifted to take us north, we headed south, probably for a day or two, heading west of the Cape Verde Islands and hopefully meeting the trade winds in the next 48 hours. (I’m reminded of a boat we met who said they usually only tack on Mondays and Thursdays).

What news on board? The fishy (yellow tailed snapper we think) was cooked and will provide a lunch today for those who feel like eating in the choppy conditions. G has promised conditions will get calmer during the day â€�" the crew are eyeing him with some scepticism. Kate manfully made a veg pasta supper last night in lumpy conditions â€�" much appreciated by all. Sleep was a bit difficult due to the external noise and internal motion. Steve kept his bucket handy. Plenty of reefing and tacking practice for the crew, who are getting very slick at these manoeuvres. We saw a few ARC boats on the screens last night â€�" some of them we know were way ahead of us the previous day, so looking forward to doing our analysis of the ‘scores on the doors’. We had a really proper line squall come through this morning â€�" black clouds, heavy rain and 25 kts of wind. Just as well we didn’t strip off and grab the shower gel because it was all over and done with in a couple of minutes.

Distance run in the last 24 hours: 123 nautical miles

Cumulative distance run since ARC start: 752 nautical miles