This is becoming something of a tedious affair. A little wind for a few hours and then again nothing. There is too little wind pressure in the sails to keep them filled so when you slip down the back of a wave, the sails back, the battens bend backwards and today the first of them snapped – I suspect it will not be the last. All through the night the bang bang bang of the sails backing and filling. Very boring!

We therefore decided to fly the gennaker out of its bag – the sock having got damaged on day one of the return leg. Suffice it to say it is too big and heavyweight to be launched by Helly and I alone.  It ended as it had to in a debacle with the sail in the water. We got it back up, recovered it over the boom and it is now back in its bag where it will remain for the remainder of the race. Furlers have to be the way to go!

We are make 4-5 knots which will see us back in Falmouth in time for Christmas.

One good thing about the gennaker action was it got Helly out of her nest where she had lain for the past 3 days!

Helly pointed out today the sea has changed colour from deep turquoise blue to gunmetal grey.  As we go north it is also getting colder.  Missing the Azores already!

I have managed to bash my head at least 3 times today and am thus feeling highly irritable and grumpy!.

Hoping for a better tonight. Wind SSW at 120° with just under 500nm to run. Having looked at the light and variable winds forecast in the days to come, as Captain Scott said, we “may be a little while”!

Outrageous out.