Going nowhere fast

Neal reports from Assa Abloy on the slow progress of the Volvo Ocean Race

I guess we should be thankful that we are no longer on the wind but like the other 97 or so Volvo sailors out here at present I’m longing for any wind what so ever. For what seems like weeks (probably six or 7seven days in reality) we have had hardly a breath. Its hot, far too hot for me and what's worse we are going nowhere. The racing has been close with little more than a few miles separating the boats north/south but a large spread east/west. For four days or so we had some long drawn out tuning runs with Tyco. They were within our sight all the time, we seemed to have very equal pace in a range of conditions. We finally separated from them last night and now we are out of sight of all the fleet.

This part of the world is a particularly lonely spot. There are no ships to watch, no sea life other than the occasional flying fish (even they like the wind don’t seem to be making an appearance at present) and nothing but board flat sea and a completely clear sky above us. Add to this the fact that the slow progress means we are going to have to start rationing of the food. I for one just can’t wait for some breeze.