Shifting breeze

Difficult night for Ellen on board B&Q Castorama as she passes the Canaries

End of day 4 data

Position at 0810: 27deg 04N/020deg 25W
True Wind speed: 14.1 knots
Distance sailed so far: 1630 miles
Average Boat speed: 16.19 knots (heading SW)

The end of day four of Ellen's solo non-stop round the world record bid finds her 130nm southwest of the Canary Islands still making excellent progress but now down to 57 minutes ahead of Francis Joyon's record pace. At this stage in Joyon's attempt the Frenchman had been forced to gybe into towards the African coast to stay out of the clutches of the Azores high.

For Ellen major shifting and unstable winds have made for a difficult night. "Wind shifting through 100 degrees still, and up and down like a yoyo which does not make for relaxation. Wind alarms are continually going off. I'm not sure why either. It must be local cloud action."

As a result the boat speed is showing continual surges from 8 to 25 knots and back making it hard for Ellen to figure out the best sail combination to have up. Fortunately the wind is set to stabilise to between 11-17 knots today as B&Q Castorama heads into the Trades.

Weather-wise the Azores high is currently oblong in shape along a NNE-SSW axis (bring the cold but stable conditions in the UK at present) and to the south is undulating. Over the course of the next 24 hours Ellen should see the wind go from the NNE to the northeast. This combined with her westerly course should allow B&Q Castorama to sail a hot angle south.