11:15 AM Mon 17 Nov 2008 GMT
Both wind and boat speed are up across the entire fleet this morning as the Volvo Ocean Race teams hook into an intensifying low pressure system and turn east towards the scoring gate.
On the 04:00 GMT position report, it was the Ericsson twins at the top of the leaderboard, a table that gives a more accurate impression of the lead now that the entire fleet is sailing east. One note of caution, the leaderboard still slightly favours boats to the north, while most of the tacticians would prefer a position to the south, so bear that in mind when you're assessing the fleet positions.
The data tables are giving true wind speeds of between 20 and 25 knots for the entire fleet, and speeds are north of 20 knots as well. The sea state should start to become more regular now, after being described as crazy by Anders Lewander on Ericsson 3 in an email off the boat.
'Crazy wave state, but we hang on to the masthead gennaker even though we are being thrown around each crest and hump like mad. According to the downloaded current GRIB it seems like we are in a warm water eddie with strong south going current and yes for sure, the water down here is much warmer than in Cape Town. But the relatively pleasant constant spray now will soon change to a more harsh spray as we get into colder water soon again,' he wrote.
'The unpleasant part of the current is that it pressures the waves to strange unpredictable towers and the sea looks somewhat like the lava fields on Lanzarote, but blue and living.'
The entire fleet has turned east just shy of the Roaring 40s. Torben Grael's Ericsson 4, the boat furthest south, is at nearly 39-degrees south latitude, while PUMA remains close in step, just five miles to the north and a shade behind as well.
A group of three boats, including the Telefonica twins, and Delta Lloyd is about 50 miles to the north of Ericsson 4, with the rest of the fleet sandwiched in between.
'It has been pretty tough out here so far, really close racing,' writes Simon Fisher, the navigator on Telefonica Blue. 'We were exchanging tacks for the first day and then in full view of each other as we powered downwind on the second day. With the pressure building though, the fleet is starting to spread out a little and a few of the boats who seem to go well in the big breeze are starting to shine.
'As for us, maybe this isn't our strongest suit but we are learning to hang in there and are focused on going as well as we can. On board is pretty wet, but luckily the weather is kind and not too cold and the nights seem short and well lit by the moonlight. Right now we are being conservative and steady ready to pounce when the conditions start to swing our way...'
Lighter conditions are still some time away. This southern ocean low pressure system that the fleet has grabbed onto has the potential to power them all the way to the scoring gate, unless some decide to turn north for Cochin before that.
www.volvooceanrace.org
by Volvo Ocean Race media
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