Noon on the fourth day and another eventful 24 hours for us and the fleet.  Just before last light we took down the “Kite” our big colourful asymetric sail only to discover that the halyard (rope holding the sail up the mast) had chaffed very badly and was about to part.  Had it done so the halyard would have disappeared inside the mast and the sail would have collapsed into the sea and possibly gone under the yacht.  A lucky escape and a wake-up call for when Mike does his daily checks of all the rigging.

On the morning radio net we heard that another yacht had run into a fishing net in the night and spent four hours trapped until the fishermen came and cut them free.  They now cannot start their engine until they have found somewhere to anchor and can dive under the boat to inspect the tangle around the prop and the damage to the cutlass bearing.  Carol will remember our being in a similar position off the Cape Verde Islands in 2011.

We had a peaceful night travelling in company with Allure from NZ and Slip Away from the US. We were able to sail dead downwind with both headsails poled out, one on either side and the third reef in the mainsail tight in the middle (our Atlantic rig).  A calmer less rolly sea and a gentle wind between 10 and 15 knots saw us doing 7 knots at times.  So noon on day 4 and we have run 140 miles since noon yesterday.  100 miles to go.