It is most odd to be going in completely the opposite direction from the one originally planned, and in solid downwind

As several of you may have noticed Campagne de France began to position itself to a more northerly route yesterday, many

Tuesday:
We are conducting an experiment to verify that there really is no wind in a barometric col, and can confim

There we are! At 11.21 GMT “Campagne de France” has rounded the virtual mark at 42ºS,49ºE which forms the end of

We have been at sea for 5 days now, and it certainly hasn't been dull. There was no gentle easing into

After a superb stopover in Cape Town, we finally left for the start of Leg 2 on Tuesday. It seems like

There are only about 60 miles left to the finish line of Leg 1. Probably not in a straight line either.

It has been a trying week on Campagne de France, with a variety of technical issues diverting time and energy away

The sea state today is a little disorderly, and since we are sailing fast upwind, it is quite bumpy and rather

Yesterday late afternoon it became clear that the entire horizon to our south was blocked by an enormous cloud - one

The Doldrums have certainly lived up to their name for Campagne de France. Vast windless areas and enormous cumulomonsters. The one

As is the case with most race boats, Class40s are very sensitive to trim, ie the correct distribution of weight in

Night falls quickly at these latitudes, and the cloud cover obscuring whatever moon there is, it is deep darkness. Last night

Morning,

We have been saiing close to the African coast which has its fair share of traps - small/ unlit fishing boats

Apologies for the lack of news.

The past few days have revolved around sailing, eating and sleeping - the latter being something

So much for trying to get e-mail out during the night, so that you have news in the morning.

The nights have

Yesterday's pleasant morning turned into a slightly faster and hairier downwind ride as the wind reached 30 knots in the afternoon

It was a pretty light start to the race, involving quite a few sail changes, swearing at clouds (no wind, handled