The Tim and Gerry show

John Greenland tracked down two of Britain's unsung heros - Tyco's Tim Powell and Gerry Mitchell

Looking at the fleet in general both Mitchell and Powell have been impressed with how close the boat speeds are across the whole fleet.

"It's [the standard] fairly similar to last time - it's just different because there are no radical changes. Last time the sail programmes were different and that made a big difference, all the boats had fairly different speeds in different wind conditions," explained Mitchell. Both believe this is for the better, putting a greater emphasis on how and where the boat is sailed.

"It's pretty much a one-design fleet now," said Powell, no stranger to the rigors of close one-design racing. "You just have to look at how the boats came into Rio. After 6,500 miles the first five boats finished within just a few hours." The general consensus was that this was a development for the better. Not only does it keep the racing closer together for a more lively competition for the general public to follow, but also it makes the racing more intense for the competitors.

One thing Powell was surprised by in the eight boat fleet has been Grant Dalton's performance so far in the Frers designed Amer Sports One. "His boat has proved to be very competitive. There are some points of sailing where they're as fast as we are," said Powell.

Looking at the fleet in general the two British sailors believe some of the teams are now employing more radical tactics in an effort to climb the leader board. "It's all well and good if you get it right, but the law of averages is against you," explained Powell. "For example, Dalts in that last leg had the opportunity to come back in and consolidate to get second, but he hung out to the east for a long long time which wasn't really the conservative route. It was definitely a bit of a winger."

With leg five soon to be behind them, the Volvo's longest legs will be in the past, with the four remaining legs all under 3,000nm. As a result tactics are likely to change, and the fleet is likely to be finishing even closer together. Powell believes the move to more legs and the same number of points for each is a good move on the part of Volvo. "It's a lot more open now. By this time four years ago we were about 75 percent through the points and Paul Cayard's EF Language was a lot more comfortable than illbruck is now," he says.

On a personal note both Powell and Mitchell would have liked to be involved with the America's Cup this time round, but like most of the Volvo sailors, the timing of the two regattas does not easily allow for the combination. As for a British entry in the Volvo, both sailors would have been keen to sail for a home team, however neither felt there was much chance of finding the necessary funding for a British entry. "It does seem as though finding money in the UK is pretty difficult. If you look at these campaigns at lot of them are to do with an individual saying he/she wants to do the race and then putting their company name behind it."

But if someone does find money for a UK-based project you can be sure both Powell and Mitchell will be interested in getting involved in what would be their fourth go at this race.