After four or five days of sailing in head-banging conditions as hard into the wind as possible, Leg 3 is entering a new tactical phase. The two leaders, Bernard Stamm and Kojiro Shiraishi, have been sailing the shortest course possible up to now, holding as north as possible without tacking. Progress has been hard in the strong adverse winds and washing-machine seas kicked up by the Gulf Stream.
However, they have now moved into a ridge of high pressure, which for the time being has knocked the wind out of their sails and a frustrated Stamm will be trapped in the light airs he foresaw prior to leaving Norfolk. Forty miles astern of Cheminees-Poujoulat, Shiraishi has yet to let Stamm break away or to experience drifting conditions, although the Japanese skipper can already detect a significant change in the weather.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is also experiencing calmer conditions and has managed to bail 41 buckets of water from his bow. He will be reassured to know that Stamm and Shiraishi share his thinking over getting as north as possible in this first week of Leg 3. While the late morning position report revealed that Saga Insurance had yielded further miles to third-placed PAKEA - now almost 200 miles ahead - RKJ is sticking to his guns in the belief that his more northerly route will come good when the new westerly winds arrive.
Sir Robin needs to make up a deficit of 2 days and 9 hours on Unai Basurko from their combined times in Legs 1 & 2 - so he is gambling that this will pay off for him in the long run.
