The noon positions for yesterday showed that we were well placed within the fleet and 2nd of the 4 Oyster 56's. However the damage to our cruising chute proved to be a real handicap and we lost a lot of ground during the day and even more last night when the winds went light and we spent the night rolling around with the big white sails flogging. Not good for the boat and not good for the crew.

WE have managed to repair the chute with sail tape over sown with strong thread and Tricia's domestic sewing machine.

Not sure of the machine will ever be the same again but at least we have repaired the sail and are now sailing closer to our intended track at 6.5 knots under cruising chute alone. There was a spectacular sunrise this morning and I managed to capture the event with a yacht cruising across the rising sun.

All aboard are well, Glenn made some great pizzas last night for supper followed by watching the film Gladiator on DVD.

Adrian is now making some egg and bacon sandwiches for breakfast.

The guys have rigged the fishing lines again this morning but as yet no fish!

We hope to make up some of the lost time by going further south to pick up the better winds before heading west towards the Caribbean.