“Look at this! It’s like a whole different sport,” says Craig Satterthwaite as he stepped on deck for his watch this morning. We all nodded in agreement. After a light air transition period in the middle of the night, we were at last sailing down-wind! The sun was out and the entire crew was surfacing to take in a few breaths of new trade winds. This new sail angle was a true relief - it was obvious the upwind pounding was beginning to wear away at the edges of our minds. As Justin Slattery explains it; “I’m having mood swings as if it day 22, not day 4!”

With the change of angle comes a rebirth for the interior of the boat as well. All the hatches swing open and our own version of the “Cape Doctor wind” sweeps through. Wet weather gear, boots and socks, shirts, even pillows all are tossed on deck for a little dry out. The nav-station and “favela” in the back are rid of the foul odours that have been wafting around for the past few days. In short, Azzam really needed a tidy up.

Back to the racing… We’re currently about two miles to windward of Sanya just ahead of our beam. Earlier they came within about .3 or .4 of a mile of us and we could nearly make out who was steering. Unfortunately, moments later, our steering locked up as we snagged a massive tangle of old fishing ropes that were floating just below the surface. Justin Ferris noticed it immediately while at the helm and Craig and Bubs reacted quickly swinging Craig’s body over the transom with the biggest knife we could find. A few minutes later we were free and back on course. Looks like we’re in for at least another 24 hours of down-wind sailing to the east, so hopefully the images coming from the fleet will feature a few more smiles.

Since today is just another groundhog day aboard Azzam, I figured it would be good to change it up a bit. Here is a written version of my chat / interview with bowman and boat captain aboard Azzam, Wade Morgan.

ND: Tell me Bubs (Wade Morgan), what do you see as being game changers for this next leg aboard Azzam? Modifications, routine changes, strategy etc…

WM: Well with regard to modifications to the boat, we have not had too many. It’s true we felt we were a little off the pace at times in the race so far, but we’re confident in the boat and feel that we can help stem the losses at our weaker angles by shifting weight in the stack a bit differently.

ND: Can you give me a few examples of how you are adjusting your stack?

WM: For starters we have added around 200+kilos of extra food to our stack roster for this leg. This, along with a spare dagger board should dramatically improve our righting moment and hopefully keep us a bit more competitive upwind. Not to mention keeping us fed if the leg continues on a slow as it has been so far!

ND: Any changes to the routine - watch system, manoeuvres, responsibilities...?

WM: Watch systems have stayed the same - we’re pretty happy with everyone’s work ethic at the moment and are all on the same page as to what we need to do to go faster. We also have a fresh body joining us for this leg in the shape of Paul Willcox, who has been on reserve for us since the start of the race. Manoeuvres wise, not much has changed either. Maybe just a few details in our peels and positions during heavy weather sail changes, but boat handling in general is something that we have always felt we were pretty solid with.

ND: What do you see as being the primary challenges of this leg to Auckland?

WM: Honestly – as a boat captain, it is my responsibly to make sure Azzam is working to her max during each leg. My primary challenges don’t change very often; mostly they just increase with heavier conditions. If the boat continues to function as it has so far in the race, and we are able to keep up with the fleet during our traditionally tougher upwind angles and make gains in our stronger down wind angles, we’ll hopefully be leading the pack into Auckland in 19 – 20 days time.

ND: Last question – How’s your head?

WM: (Laughs) my melon is fine. I’m more worried about the J4 furling unit I head-butted. It was a nasty sail change that’s for sure, and when you mix a 5m short-chop sea state with a 120kilo bowman, things are bound to get a little hairy.

The waves are finally settling down a little and forming some kind of pattern. We have certainly fallen off the back of a few big ones over the last 48 hours. I have no idea how these boats stay in one piece but they are a credit to the rule makers and structural designers (so far so good anyway!). Thank God we weren’t sent out here in 35 knots!

One thing is for sure – this is a pretty crazy part of the world and not one I am in a particular hurry to return to. I guess the trade winds, the monsoon, lots of currents and some large land masses all conspire to a real mess in the sea. Life onboard is OK but we have some very tired people. Sleep has been very hard to come by as it is tough enough just staying in your bunk in these waves, let alone managing to sleep. I have never seen the food bag so full as keeping dinner down has been quite a challenge for some. The only damage onboard so far (apart from a few small leaks) has been to an internal stacking bin so let’s hope we can keep it that way.

As always there is no let up in the pace of the race and even though we have sailed a very good 36 hours we still have boats breathing down our neck all over the place. It is nice to be sailing alongside somebody else (Sanya is only 5 miles away) for a change and especially nice to have Puma and Telefonica behind us. Everyone is trekking out towards the Southern tip of Taiwan where the wind is expected to become very fickle. I hope the waves drop before the wind does or it will make for tortuous progress.

Here we are on yet another upwind leg of the race. After our short 25+ knots TWS beating yesterday, all we are left with is a confused sea state and half the wind. It seems no matter where we point our bow the elements choose the reciprocal course to oppose us. In fact as I write to you now, Jules and Sifi are beside me in the nav station figuring out a way to re-write our TWD (true wind direction) instrument so that it reads “Our Destination”.

Because there is a bit of current moving perpendicular to the wind, we’re also dealing with a bit of side chop added to the sea state. Imagine riding a mechanical bull - it’s difficult for a variety of reasons. It’s spins around unpredictably, moves up and down, side to side and manages to heel over when you least expect it. Now imagine trying to stand on that mechanical bull while it’s going nuts. When you go forward of the dagger boards on a Volvo 70, above or below deck, this is what you have to look forward to. It can often be hysterical to watch. It’s as if the person is a puppet, and their puppeteer is drunk while driving their arms and legs. You never know how you’re going to end up in the bilge, only that will end up in the bilge.

Aside from that, things are pretty boring on board. We are all starting to get our appetites back after the beating yesterday. Fishing stories are starting up again on the rail, and the usual ‘hide the chocolate’ tricks have commenced.

There really is little to report out here except for the fact the wind has gone hard right lifting us up into quite a big head-sea. It is uncomfortable rather than boat breaking but the helmsman needs to be alert for the odd wave with no back to it.

It was a very dark night with no visible horizon which made it especially hard to helm accurately. Paul (aka Big Breeze) Willcox has settled into the crew well and seems to be enjoying himself. The lads are already winding him up about the equator crossing.

In the race Camper is using its extra height nicely to hold their strong position right of the fleet and Telefonica is speeding its way out of a slightly tricky position to the left. We seem to be going a bit better with our new mainsail and slightly different trim but still cannot quite match the pace of the leading three. The weather models are all over the place right now and the exit strategy through the Luzon Straits is far from clear so I suspect we may see some very different tactics leading to some opportunities over the next few days.

For now though it is just a question of once again bashing upwind and wondering about how great these last two legs would have been if we had sailed in the other direction!

Just easing back into the swing of things here on leg 4. We started off the morning in the last bit of drainage wind left over from the night. There were several lead changes in the first few miles as the fleet tried to duck and weave the light patches. It would not be like this for long however. As we slowly began to poke our nose out from behind the lee of the island of Hainan, the breeze steadily increased along with the wave height.

Needless to say it has become nearly impossible to do anything at this point on board. The airdrops we are experiencing off the backs of these sharp waves make it difficult to keep your feet below you let alone a sail or a steering wheel in your hands. We’re currently blasting along at around 18-20 knts with a J4 and reef in. Down below looks like a war zone. Several people have been sick already, and the rest just keep swallowing. On that note, it’s time to go cook the food – stayed tuned for more action.

A number of firsts for me in the last two days. First I’ve never sailed round a ‘Buddha mark’ before. Next I was putting suncream on in the dark before a 7am start and then today I had a hint of seasickness for the first time ever. Fortunately I have kept the freeze-dried roast chicken and mashed potato down so far (unlike a few others onboard) and the conditions are improving.

Right now it is still quite lumpy (the sea state). I would guess 3 – 4 metre waves but the wind has dropped to 16 knots. We are trying to hang on to Telefonica’s coattails in the north after quite a good morning that saw us leave the land in second place behind Camper. We have done a couple more sail changes than the other boats which wasn’t too pleasant. This also led to a bit of a shiner for Bubs after an encounter between his head and the foredeck. There is no permanent damage to either his head or the foredeck as far as I can make out.

Back to the race we are now settled into our watch routine, the snoring has started down below and the guys on deck are finding their rhythm. Nobody is really looking forward to a week or two of upwind slog – especially in these waves, but we will cross off the miles and wait for better sailing somewhere further down the line.

Last night we dodged our second bullet of the leg. The first was in Singapore when we tried to pass between a moored motor yacht and a navigation buoy in the dark only to realise at the last second that they were connected by a large rope! We managed to alter course violently to avoid both the boat and buoy.

Last night was our second. We were threading our way up close to the Vietnamese coast in the dark when we had another near miss. Our concern was all the fishing boats- many of which were small and unlit (I counted over 100 lit ones that we could see at any one time). Fortunately Justin Slattery was on the foredeck as a lookout and he called Craig who was helming to come up just in time to miss a large, steel, uncharted and unlit pillar buoy. We missed it by a metre and for sure it would have made a big mess of our bow. It doesn’t bare thinking about the damage either of the incidents could have made to Azzam. I guess a miss is as big as a mile but these incidents serve to remind us of some of the unknown risks that lie out there.

Our overnight tactic of working the coastline hard may have been slightly risky but it paid nice dividends and we have come into both Camper and Puma thanks to favourable windshifts and current. Whether there will be anymore passing opportunities I am not sure as we are all now set up on starboard close to pointing at Sanya and the leg finish. It has been pretty windy and rough overnight and I am pleased to have seen us come through unscathed. Despite our disappointment at currently lying in 5th position we are very much looking forward to arriving in Sanya, especially if the welcome is anything like Qingdao in the last race!

The ‘proximity to finish’ sensor in all of us has gone off. The boat is becoming a bit untidy and tempers are short. The upwind smash-off for the last 600 miles and constant tacking has cut our fuses just a little bit shorter. Every once in a while you have to remind yourself that this is was only a 12 day leg, we will have at least another week past this in the next leg. But then again, with a day left to finish its nearly impossible not letting your mind drift off the boat.

We are holding onto a slim shade of hope that we could still have a small dual near the finish with Puma, who currently sit just 40 miles above our line with a similar heading. However we are stuck in a bit more current against us at the moment so the next sched could be a little disappointing. Nevertheless we continue to push Azzam for every gain possible. In the end all it takes is a breakage, a piece of debris in the water (which there is plenty of), or a crazy weather change for another boat and we would be right back amongst the leaders. That’s the beauty of this race.

On a more positive note, the comedy level is now peaking on board. The jokes and conversations on deck have become increasingly laden with sarcasm and dry wit. Rampant singing is now commonplace when sitting on deck and the only divisions that remain are the choice in genres.

OK I admit it - I have had enough of sailing upwind! Sadly we still have another 250 upwind miles or so to go before we can ease sheets and head directly for Sanya.

Having said that, 250 miles doesn’t sound too bad compared to over 2000 miles upwind that we knew we might have to do on this leg. There is very little to report apart from one collision in the night. Something hit our daggerboard and rudder hard and I was pretty glad when Junior (who was steering) reported that both were still intact.

Given the amount of tree trunks, crates and other debris we see in the day I consider we got off lightly. Tonight may well be worse as we will be tacking up the Vietnamese coast close to land. This tacking frenzy is due to begin in about six hours for us so everyone is resting up now in advance.

It will be interesting over the next 10 hours to see how Puma come out of their far eastern strategy. It looks relatively evenly poised between them and perhaps Camper from where I am sitting right now. Who knows, if it doesn’t go well for them maybe we can get close.

For us we have leaked more miles on the long starboard tack drag race north. The reality is that we are now three hours behind Camper and relying on those ahead to make big mistakes. In the meantime we will keep doing what we always do which is to drive and trim as fast as we can whilst Jules and I dissect every weather forecast looking for opportunity. It is still pretty windy and bumpy out here so we will remain mindful that things could be tired after two weeks at sea – including the crew.

What a torrid 12 hours we have had. The wind speed and direction has born no relation to the forecasts and this, coupled with our fleet position and desire to get some leverage on the boats ahead, has lead to a big loss.

As we positioned ourselves to the east of the fleet in anticipation of a big right shift, the wind went 30 degrees left. Camper instantly gained around 10 miles. Fortunately we are now back on track and seemed to have played the last three shifts much better to hopefully stay in touch with Camper.

As we head north the wind is lifting and increasing so this also favours those boats ahead to make gains. Right now the wind is building fast (we have 19 knots) and there is a feeling of anticipation about the 48 hours of strong wind ahead. It will soon be time to wake everyone up and change to a smaller headsail.

Azzam and her crew are in good shape and we are spurred on by the thought that our arrival in Sanya is potentially only three days away. For the first time all leg we are all now reaching for foul weather gear as the amount of water coming over the deck is increasing. I would be lying if I said I was not apprehensive about our mast and rigging, but all the signs are that things should be OK. The big test will be when we go for the J4 heavy weather jib and two reefs for the first time since stepping this spare mast.

A bit of a tough day here for us aboard Azzam. We began the day leading Camper out of the hectic shipping fields that extend through the Singapore Straits. When daylight broke we could just make them out on the horizon behind us sailing higher and perhaps a fraction slower. The plan was clear, play our position to the forecasted right shift that was to be coming through in the afternoon. Sit on port tack until the shift came and / or we were laying the exclusion zone that we were required to sail beyond. We’re still waiting on the shift…

Tough luck is all we can say. Camper tacked out earlier to find fresher breeze and ended up catching a shift while they were at it. Now we look forward. The wind forecast going past the Vietnamese coastline looks like it will have some wick on it. 30 – 35 knots bang up-wind less than 48 hours from now. The crew have begun to run over a few checklists, making sure spare ropes, deck gear and a whole host of other things are readily accessible. Most of the talks on deck during the watches focus on the readiness of Azzam – if we should see 35 knots do we start backing off? Or do we feel that we have one of the stronger boats and press on in hopes to gain back good distance from the leaders?

Unfortunately right now it looks as if the rich are getting richer ahead of us with more consistent breeze from a better angle. So when looking at it from our standpoint, the heavy winds could provide us the chance we need for a big comeback in the homestretch to Sanya. However it will not be easy, nor will it be comfortable.

As Andrew Lewis and I were talking about earlier, “cherish the interior of the boat right now.” It’s dry, cool and clean. In 48 hours it will be turned upside down and any ounce of comfort that you had before will be sucked away.