#VOR - High pressure, and the attendant lack of wind, is the challenge faced by the navigators with the Volvo Ocean Race fleet now five days into the sixth leg from Itajaí to Newport.
Yesterday (23 April) saw the first split in the pack that was more-or-less tightly knit for the first few days east from their Brazilian stopover, as the crews began picking their spots to tack north.
But there's a fair amount of Brazilian coastline yet to pass – the fleet is still a ways off from Ponta de Olinda – and current lead boat Team Alvimedica is only 17.2 nautical miles clear of previous leg winners Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing bringing up the rear.
Between them there's another close jostle for position between Dongfeg Race Team, Team Brunel, Team SCA and Mapfre, all within just over a nautical mile as the average speed across the fleet drops below six knots.
In the meantime, the teams continue to share their thoughts with the official VOR website in between the relentless tacks that have put any hopes of sleep on the back-burner for now.
Indeed, the sleep deprivation might be affecting the crew of Team Brunel more than others, as skipper Bouwe Bekking took to ribbing their on-board reporter Stefan Coppers.
When he's not keeping the rest of the boat awake with his permanently-on head torch ("He is a like little kid who has a little nightlight right next to him") the Dutch journo's known to strut the deck in his tight boxers.
"he doesn't realise how silly he is looking," says Bekking. "But we gave up a long time ago, it seems to be his 'dresscode'."
It would be enough to distract any sailor, though these hardy souls are keeping their focus as the waiting (and tacking) game continues.
