Vestas 11th Hour Racing continues to lead the Volvo Ocean Race fleet on Wednesday morning (UTC) as the teams push deeper into the Southern Ocean.
"Getting south around the high," tweeted naivgator Simon Fisher from the leading boat. "Down to 52-south already. A quick trip down to the #southernocean this time around!"
© Yann Riou/Volvo Ocean Race
On the 0700 position report Wednesday, his team was furthest east and furthest south, making for a strong position over those chasing.
However, less than 10 miles separates first from fifth place on the tracker this morning, so small gains and losses will have a big impact on the leaderboard.
"We're going along pretty nicely, the fleet is pretty condensed and we have good sailing conditions," said Simeon Tienpont from team AkzoNobel, currently in second place. "Every watch you feel the temperature drop, so the layers keep coming on."
Only slightly further back from the leading 5 boats, Turn the Tide on Plastick skipper Dee Caffari noted this was the furthest south most of her crew had every been.
"We have made it. Finally we are in the Furious Fifties. We have waved goodbye to the roaring forties and have dipped to the furthest south most of my crew have ever been. Yet we will be going further.
"In leg 3, when we were last in the Southern Ocean, I joked with my crew that as we did not leave the Roaring Forties we did not see the Southern Ocean. So now they have ticked the box.
"Quite strangely we have been sailing in great conditions. There is blue sky, flat water, relatively speaking and winds that have been between 20 and 28 knots. In fact, it has been a gentle introduction to the South. The reality is we are sure to be nailed at some point but until then they should enjoy it while they can."
That may come sooner rather than later, with a forecast over the weekend for gale force winds and a towering sea state. But for now, the fleet is making fast progress in favourable conditions.
