Volvo Ocean Race: "We could easily be mistaken for a submarine"

At the start of the eighth day of the seventh leg, the new leaders have gained a 24 nautical mile lead over Dongfeng Race Team: Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel has taken command of the fleet on course for Cape Horn. Around 25 and 26 nautical miles behind in third and fourth place are Comeback Team Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Dee Caffari's Team Turn the Tide on Plastic. The Spanish team Mapfre - still the front runner on Saturday - has dropped back to fifth place, more than 40 nautical miles behind. Ten nautical miles behind the red boat, AkzoNobel was in 6th place on Sunday morning, leaving the red lantern of the tail light hanging in the stern of Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag.

The crews continue their gybing duels along the ice edge in winds of around 22 knots. According to the latest forecasts, they can expect 30 to 40 knots of wind as they approach Cape Horn. The race organisers have opened up the ice edge around the notorious landmark and the world's largest ship graveyard so that the boats can sail further south. "That's lucky for us," said Bouwe Bekking, "because it means we don't have to do so many gybes there."

Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari described what sailing in the Southern Ocean feels like for the men and women in her last blog from on board: "The conditions are above all wet! When you're below deck, it's constantly dripping from above. Everything floats in the bilges. When you're on deck, you have problems even seeing the instrument displays on the mast in the streams of water shooting across the deck. We could easily be mistaken for a submarine out here."

Caffari already noted on Saturday about the navigationally challenging task of sailing towards Cape Horn along the ice edge: "We have wind from the west and an ice edge to the south of us. Within this framework, we are trying to get as far east as possible as quickly as possible. The further south you sail, the shorter the distance and the more profit you can make. But the further south you sail, the higher the swell and the more jibes you have to make. We are trying to weigh up all these considerations in the current stronger winds. If we are still standing tomorrow, then we will have done well." Caffari's young mixed team has once again mastered the challenges in the Southern Ocean well, putting up a strong fight against the top teams in the most demanding conditions.

Sir Peter Blake, Grant Dalton, winner of the first Whitbread edition, and other prominent participants recall their experiences in the Southern Ocean