The wind is back which does wonders for my motivation. No wind is stressful. I’m really missing that genoa now though as we are going upwind in 10-12 knots. The boat is not fully powered up but moving along well at between 6 & 10 knots upwind. I have the gennaker and spinnaker at the ready, if ever we get some downwind work. The weather files show at least two more days of this light air and then possible some sailing directly towards Port La Foret and the finish.

It will be good to get this race over with and start working on the long list of improvements that we can make for the Vendee Globe. As I mentioned, this race has been a steep learning curve.

Otherwise, everything is fine on board. I have a leak in the ballast system that requires bailing about five buckets a day from the engine compartment, but otherwise we are ok.

Watch for a Daily Planet feature on Discovery Channel Canada.