Watch Alex Thomson reflects on the race so far and is not allowing himself to get down in the doldrums

Time: 12:00 GMT

Latitude: 26 51.71’ S

Longitude: 39 14.57’ W

Position: Second

Average speed: 13.1 knots

We have had a warm weekend on Hugo Boss with the air temperature consistently above 20 degrees during the day, with night-time temperatures dipping to around 16 degrees. The sea temperature is warmer still at around 25 degrees and both Capey and I are relishing the warmth.

We are still sailing to the west of the front, which is allowing us to make pretty good progress down the track. The conditions are, however, very unstable and the weather files are not particularly accurate, making long-term strategy very difficult.

This means that we are only able to plan six hours in advance from weather file to weather file; but hopefully in the next 36 hours we will cross north of a small low pressure and out into northerly winds, which will shift right to the north-east and allow us to tack and head north.

It’s strange to be looking forward to sailing upwind, but entry into the south Atlantic trade winds is the next milestone in the race to the finish. From there it should be straight forward to the Doldrums.

We hope to gain a few miles on the leader today, but after we transit the low we will lose again so I guess we will be a similar distance behind them at the Doldrums.

The Doldrums and the entry into the Mediterranean are the next areas of unpredictable weather, where we can consider catching up with the leader Paprec Virbac. After making up 200 nautical miles in the last week we are hopeful that if we get a lucky break with the weather, we will be able to edge a bit closer.

We will also have to keep a watchful eye out on the guys behind us, who will catch us up over the next few days. The weather is definitely being kind to them. Other than that, we will continue the way we are at the moment and make the most of the sunshine.

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