BT Global Challenge - Leg 3 - 31st December 2000

"It's been very difficult to watch the boats to the south slip away. We saw the wind hole and headed south, but too late and not far enough. The last six hours we covered 13 miles! It was pure hell, listening to the mainsail flap from one side to the other in the gentle southern ocean swell. We now need a little luck as we push west into the new notherly breeze. I suspect Compaq are into the new breeze and will open up a commanding lead.

To make matters worse, I've got a stinking cold.

Always something good comes out of these "character building" moments. At least we have caught up on a few jobs on the boat ... rig checks, tightening steering cables, whipping and splicing a new halyard to name but a few. Chris Morton has his big day today as we celebrate his 55th birthday. What a bloke, one of the coolest guys around with more knowledge stored in his mind than in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Looking forward to eating a piece of his birthday cake.

Better get back on deck, I can feel some wind..."

Andy Magrath, LG FLATRON, Sunday 31st December;

"'If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them: 'hold on!''

This is a verse from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'IF' which we have on permanent view at the bottom of the companionway steps. These few lines probably describe what it is like to go upwind through the southern Pacific Ocean in a racing yacht far better than I can.

It had warmed up for a couple of days, but today it is cold again, double thermals, double socks, double gloves etc. etc! The constant upwind slog takes it toll. Not just the sailing, sail changes and helming but the living of life at a constant 30 degree angle.

It is hard to describe the frustration of simply getting your bunk ready to climb into, or getting ready to go on deck. Getting all of our kit on takes forever, especially when the whole watch of eight needs to be in the same place at the same time to get ready. This race takes me to new levels of fatigue as each leg develops. This has been by far the most exhausting. Now I look forward to my weekly mother watch as it gives me a slight break from the inevitable on deck thrashing! I have no idea how the single-handed sailors in the Vendee Globe manage to keep going. I have the utmost respect for those guys as they head for the same waters we are leaving.

We passed waypoint Charlie about 48 hrs ago. Two boats, Save the Children and BP are yet to round the waypoint. There are 2400 miles to go which gives us an ETA of 13/14 Jan 2001. For the last 24 hrs we have actually been becalmed. We feel that the worst of the trip is now over, although the breeze is expected to pick up tomorrow. The racing is as close as ever. We are currently in second place by just a few miles. We hope to be well placed with seven days to go, when it will be a real fight to the finish.

I have been up the mast today to do a rig check. Ideally this should be done every week but with the wind blowing a constant 30 knots I didn't fancy going up unless I had to. The extent to which the mast moves around even in a small sea is incredible and being 90 feet in the air is not for the faint hearted as you get slammed around!

Hopefully my next journal will be as race leader for 2001! Happy New Year!"

At 13.54 GMT on Sunday 31st December, the BT Global Challenge website reported the positions and distances to the finish of the top six as:

1 Compaq 2435 nm
2 LG FLATRON 2440 nm
3 Isle of Man 2441 nm
4 Team SpirIT 2453 nm
5 Olympic Group 2456 nm
6 Quadstone 2460 nm