It’s not very often that you’re doing 25 knots in a sailboat while desperately trying to slow down. These yachts just don’t know how to go slow, especially in the Southern Ocean - perhaps there greatest venue for speed. Imagine driving a Ferrari on the Nuremburg Ring in second gear – it just wouldn’t feel right, and it doesn’t with Azzam. Every other wave we steer down the hull shape just reacts, and before you know it we will have catapulted from 12 knots to 24 knots, doubling our speed in a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately for us, slowing down is a necessity at the moment. With an area of our port inside and possibly outside skin delaminated, it would be risky to carry on at pace. After all it’s 1.5mm of carbon that separates us from the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean. While we are confident that our repairs are strong and would likely stand up to the test of more speed, we must introduce it slowly and monitor the weakened area. Thus we have made the turn towards the north east for more favourable conditions. So far so good.

In the meantime we are being patient. Everyone is catching up on rest and taking care of any injuries sustained in the several days of fire-hosing that were endured prior to the damage. While everyone is determined to see the leg through, it is also necessary to explore our contingency plans. Hopefully Cape Horn is still on the cards though…there are a few of us that have had our sites on that goal for a long time now.