Stamm is now without the use of his Standard B or Mini M, and has been sending the short messages to the Race HQ : "It is sheer hell here. My main sail has started to tear below the 4th reef, in such a way that I have been forced to reef. With 4 reefs and the ORC I have very little sail up and so can’t make more than 6-7 knots headway when the wind is above 35 knots and the seas so rough. I am actually 60 miles from land and think I will have to tack offshore again and approach from a more Northerly angle. I am going to try and get 30 minutes sleep as I am just drenched and exhausted, and then sit on the boom to try and re-sew the sail."

While Bernard Stamm toughs it out sailing down the coast of New Zealand, Thierry Dubois on Solidaires has not found much to laugh about either. He was slowed right up passing the high pressure system, and had to watch Bernard stay ahead without feeling any effects of the lighter airs. "And to add insult to injury, the guys behind are coming up on me behind the system. I must look forward and simply position myself so I don’t get a thrashing in strong headwinds round the corner."

Out in the Tasman, Italian sailor Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali has closed to within 20 miles of New Zealander Graham Dalton on Hexagon. Dalton took a gybe to the east and allowed Bianchetti to sail north and east of him in different conditions. Overnight the winds were light for Hexagon while Tiscali remained in good, steady conditions. This morning brought bad news for the Kiwi skipper. Tiscali was closing - and fast. Dalton is finding this stretch of the leg the hardest part : "After the days of battling through the Southern Ocean, physically and mentally driving myself outside my limits, I am stuck in an area of high pressure just 1,000 miles from home, feeling as though I am in the hands of the gods. The wind is blowing between 0 and 5 knots from the NE, exactly the direction I need to travel in. I am working the boat harder than ever ; at all costs she must always keep moving."

Meanwhile, Class 2 leader American Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America has had the pedal down and stretched his lead on the closest Class 2 boat, Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal, to 748 miles. Even more impressive is the fact that for five days Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America has kept pace with Bobst Group - Armor Lux. The separation between the two leaders was 1254.8m on January 1 and now sits at 1253.5 miles.

Life has had too much excitement for Van Liew, who has been steaming along at 15 knots in northerly swells and strong southerly winds of up to 50 knots, creating a whirlpool-like sea state. Not only has he been ’doing doughnuts’ in the Tasman Sea with too much sail up in fast shifting winds with thunder and lightning all around, but he also reported to have hit a marine Marine Marine nationale mammal of some kind when he went from 14 knots to zero in an instant. "On further inspection I definitely bounced into a whale (or similar mammal) because my keel lost some paint and looks a bit dinged. I am so thankful that this did not happen at a slightly different angle as I could have lost a rudder (or 2)." Kojiro Shiraishi on Spirit of yukoh reported also to have hit a mammal whilst travelling at 10 knots, however the boat and keel are fine.

American rival Tim Kent on Everest Horizontal is being dealt his fair share of problems. Overcoming ongoing autopilot issues for the time being, he has been ’smokin’ along’ quite literally as his engine has been pumping out its exhaust directly into the cabin due to a faulty injector in the middle cylinder. After deciding not to stop and pick up a new generator to avoid getting a time penalty he can’t afford to have with Derek Hatfield right on his tail, Tim then had to spend hours fixing the engine after it failed to start. "CO is not called the silent killer for nothing, but on Everest Horizontal right now it is a visible, smelly killer, so I stay far away. Cleaning the cabin in New Zealand will take days."

And finally, back marker in Class 2, Alan Paris on BTC Velocity, sums up the plus side of sailing in the Southern Ocean : "It really is awesome sailing out here. The sky may be grey, the seas may never deliver a consistent direction causing a never ending ’ bumpy ’ ride, but how to compare the feeling of being in the southern ocean. It majestic and powerful yet demands respect and wariness. It’s easy to get into a rhythm down here that although generally positive, you have to shake yourself every now and again and soak up what its like to be in this area where so few sailors venture. Otherwise it will pass all too soon and all you will have left is memories."