21:42.00N 18:39.00W

We have had a much better run over the last 24 hours and have had the cruising chute up continuously for the last 60 hours. The sail needs constant attention to avoid broaching but drives the boat efficiently in lighter winds.

We have now gybed the boat to the west and at present we are headed directly for St Lucia.

During the day we tried setting the cruising chute to leeward and poling out the Yankee to windward. This worked for a while but made the boat roll more so we abandoned it and went back to the chute only heading almost directly downwind.

Yesterday was another beautiful day followed by a spectacular night with clear skies, zillions of stars and lots of shooting stars.

All are well on board, eating and sleeping well and keeping busy.

We have established a pattern for fishing and caught two small blue fin tuna as it went dark last night. Both were small so were thrown back to live on.

WE are hoping for a better position within the fleet after today’s position report but the 24 hours without the chute on Monday has cost us many miles.