Stu Bannatyne: Stuck in a drag race for first

After a long and frustrating few days head-butting a trough line Camper headed into the Indian Ocean high pressure before making the turn north.

Opinion

After a week of racing and a lot of ups and downs along the way we are in a four-way battle for the lead. We have Telefonica in sight just a few miles away and Puma and Groupama also in good position as the four of us drag race our way north.

After a long and frustrating few days head-butting a trough line we finally broke through and headed into the Indian Ocean high pressure before making the turn north.

The French team on Groupama chose early on not to deal with the trough line, instead to sail extra miles to the south to go around it.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE TRACKER

This strategy came with a lot of inherent risk with the potential for a huge return or a huge loss. With typical French flair similar to their rugby team they took it on boots and all and at one point were separated from the fleet by over 200 miles. As it turns out the tactic may have worked, the magnitude of the gain or loss is yet to be determined but it seems they have avoided a monumental loss but lucky for us have not had a massive gain.

We are now on starboard tack and will be for the next 5-6 days as we approach the Indian Ocean doldrums where yet again we will have to contend with random clouds, squalls and rain showers.

The doldrums could be the last shake of the dice in determining positions to the finish.

We heard the sad news today that after a very gutsy leg so far Sanya has headed to Madagascar after a rigging failure which has put them at risk of losing their mast.

We feel for them, as it is never nice to have any gear failure. We hope they can effect repairs and rejoin the race.

On a brighter note we are all looking forward to Christmas at sea. With only five days to go it is unlikely we will have a chance to complete our Christmas shopping.

I suspect our loved ones may have stashed a few small items for us to enjoy on the day. We are also in discussion about how best to string up our Christmas lights.

So we will sign off there and wish everyone a merry Christmas and hoping the good ship Camper shows a good turn of speed for our drag race north and will be first into 'Safe Haven Port A'.

I will be thinking of you all tucking into you beautiful Christmas hams, as I savour yet another freeze dry delight.