Seven point lead

A releaved Stu Bannatyne describes the highlights on a tense leg into Rio on illbruck

We have called for an extra guy on deck to help with grinding and then we're into it. The first puff sends the bow under and the boat speed rapidly climbs over 20 knots where it will remain for the duration of the squall. The helmsman spreads his feet a little further apart and crouches slightly to offset the wall of water that occasionally charges down the full length of the deck. The trimmers are barking loud clear calls and the grinders work furiously, sweating profusely under their many layers of thermalwear.

There is no chatter as everyone is on edge riding it out and hoping it doesn’t get any windier. It can't get any darker, we can barely see the bow now and it takes every ounce of concentration from everyone on deck to make sure we get safely through the squall.

Finally we see a lighter patch on the back side of the cloud and within minutes the worst has passed and we can relax a little before the next one. Average wind speed for the squall was about 38 knots and it lasted for about 20 minutes - a typical one for that night and they came through at an average of one an hour. Fortunately for us not every night was like that as I'm sure we couldn't sustain the level of concentration required for much longer.

It was a very interesting finish for us in Rio as we waited with anticipation to see the order of finishing behind us. As it turned out we could not have planned it any better and now enjoy a seven point lead over Grant Dalton and Amer Sports One. They were perhaps a little unlucky at the finish or maybe they missed the last crucial windshift, in any case I think they sailed a very good leg. I think they performed more consistently on this leg than any previous and although recording their worst result I think they can be generally happy with the way they sailed.

It is the first time Amer Sports One have been in contention from the outset and they stayed there. On every previous leg they have been behind and come back with good fortune rather than smart sailing. I'm sure we will see plenty more of them as the race progresses.

Their move to sail outside the Falklands was very risky and I thought out of character. They were in contention with Tyco, News Corp and Assa and broke away to take a flyer, (at that stage djuice were behind and had nothing to lose) a highly risky manoeuvre. In the end they came back without any great change but what a huge risk to take off solo like that, I can only assume they were not confident of their speed against the Farr boats and felt it was their only option.

Assa continued to show good speed and News Corp too until their rudder failure. Tyco for me are the ones to watch, they are always consistent and have a very good team onboard.

There are some interesting crew reshuffles for the next leg, which may or may not benefit the yachts concerned. I am certainly very happy on illbruck that we continue to operate with the same sailing team we have had since start day. I am looking forward to the rest of the race, our boat is more optimised for the shorter legs in terms of design and layout. Hopefully we can put that to good use with fast, efficient sail changes and defend our lead. We don't intend to change our strategy, I don't think we could sail any more defensively or conservatively than we have been already!