Leg 3, Cape Town to Melbourne. Xabi Fernández on board MAPFRE. © Jen Edney/MAPFRE/Volvo Ocean Race.
Hi all,
Here we are, still gybing and gybing through the exclusion zone… These days are long for all of us as there is no chance to have a good rest, but we know there is not too much left and everyone is giving all they’ve got. We still have a few to do and then we will be free to sail on starboard for more than 10 hours so hopefully everyone gets back to the routine.
The last 24 hours have been very good for us though and it does make things easier to deal with, the moral is high and every one is willing to push as I said before.
Far from thinking that the job is done, we are 100% aware that they [Dongfeng] will put the foot down like they did in the past leg and they will come quickly to us, so we will need to do the same as soon as we are clear from this exclusion zone.
The last 10 hours or so it has been much lighter and we had a breath, we even did a watch with no jacket on, I’m pretty sure it is the only one in the whole trip. We know is going to be wet, fast and rough again and we are now putting our heads around it.
For the rest, all is good on board, boat in good shape and crew in good form. We’re looking very much forward to getting there and have some proper sleep.
Best regards from MAPFRE.
Xabi
