Photos: L ©2008 Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team R ©Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing

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Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:30:00 UTC

Anders Lewander, Skipper Nordic Crew

Sent – 0600h Monday 21st July

After all the excitement of yesterday the guys are working really well. It was pretty cold last night so our Helly Hansen clothing has been much appreciated, and the fleece caps are a nice change from the crash helmets that we were wearing 24 hours ago.

But yesterday’s reality check was good and we learnt a lot. It's not something that would like to practice once a week, but it was good lesson in learning on the job.

I have had another good five hours sleep and am back on track. I will stay down below to keep my head dry and work on the navigation with Aksel as we go through the English channel. ETA to Guernsey and Jersey in the Channel Islands is three hours and Ile D'Ouessant about 10 hours.

Blog from Jules Salter, Navigator International Crew

Sent 0650h Monday 21st July

It looks like we will finally get some downwind sailing once we reach Ushant this afternoon and begin to sail across Biscay.

What is still impressive to me is the speed of these boats and how quickly landmarks come up and are passed; 20 years ago when I started all this as a keen youngster, to sail across Biscay in a day would be unheard of, let alone our 500nm passage across the North Sea, which took little over a day. We will also have sailed the length of the English Channel in under 24 hours - dinner in Dover one night and afternoon tea off Ushant the following day.

Longer term the Northerlies you so often find at this time of year down the Portuguese coast will not be there for us, probably courtesy of ex TS Bertha, a low which has spun on a southern track across the Atlantic and disrupted the usual 'trade wind' pattern . This will slow us up a bit on our way to our Puerto Calero base in Lanzarote but as usual the lads will deal with it with their normal good humour.

Blog from Phil Jameson, Bow International Crew

Sent 0840h Monday 21st July

We had a very pleasant ride through the English Channel last night, and now we're tight reaching in about 15 knots, about halfway between the Ushant lighthouse and Cherbourg Peninsula.

We've had a pretty full on trip up until now. It's hard to believe that it isn’t than long since we launched the boat, and already we've sailed 1200 miles in her, done 30 knots of boatspeed, had three reefs in the main, and banged away upwind in 20-25 knots for 36 hours!!

It has been a good way to find out about all the niggly little problems that you encounter with a new boat. The crew are very happy with all the systems on board. We are doing racing changes and cooking meals in testing conditions.

It has been a very wet trip so far. Going on deck without wet-weather gear, is about as sensible as walking through a carwash in a business suit. We have been given a real taste of what to expect in the race.

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