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The fleet made excellent headway again, having made good over 1200nm for the third successive day, an average of over 42nm per crew. Charlie Pitcher continues to lead the fleet and has a lead of 100nm to Peter Van Kets in the solo class. Karukera have now taken the lead in the pairs class by 20nm over QBE Insurance Challenger and Vivaldi continue to lead Mission Atlantic in the fours class. The pairs class is still wide open, with no less than 12 crews separated by less than 80nm.

Many crews are now making regular repairs to their boats, with wheel bearings and seats seeing the majority of DIY. It is all very well rowing day and night, and finding your rhythm but any successful ocean rower will know, to make it to the finish line you need to know how your equipment works, how to fix it, and how to improvise when making a repair. There is an unwritten rule that suggests a crew should never throw anything away, because when you’re at sea, everything has a second use.

Another day on the Atlantic Ocean sees another birthday. This time Tom Heal celebrates his 22nd birthday on Heritage Explorer – who incidentally reported some mild success with the fishing line in recent days. They have caught several fish, though their book, North Atlantic Wildlife doesn’t seem to indicate exactly what they’ve been fortunate enough to catch. No doubt the catch of the day was more appealing than the dehydrated rations they have been eating.

Elsewhere Britannia III recorded 74nm of DMG for their ninth day at sea and continue to lead the current record. They look set to pass the 500nm mark by the end of day 10 and thus be within 2048nm of the finish.