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Finding a flat spot in the wind is bad enough when you are mid-voyage, but when you can almost see the top of Table Mountain it becomes downright painful.

Both skippers have found light winds where others were romping along in a brisk breeze, but both are making the most of it. "Well I took a shower and shaved for the first time in 20 plus days as my water supplies are at about 25 litres remaining," wrote Alan Paris. " I was lucky enough to refill my tank during a massive squall in the Doldrums leaving me enough for a nice hot fresh water shower. I have a small, very small, heat exchanger called the Aussie Car Shower that uses the heat from my engine coolant system to warm small amounts of water. The beard was an interesting task and took about 30 minutes to remove, but the shower felt amazing."

A little closer to Cape Town John Dennis was also making the best of a bad situation. His log tells of fine sailing and a pleasant discovery. "Today was one of those beautiful days you hope for when getting close to port. I spent the day organizing the boat and in cleaning I found a pleasant surprise of three chocolate bars and a granola bar, which during the stormy crossing of the Bay of Biscay must have been tossed from my basket of treats that sit above the nav station. They were in a crevice under the port berth and under items stored there. having been out of treats for several days and on very last supplies of very boring food they were manna from heaven. Thank you god. They are being rationed one per day until my anticipated arrival." Given the current conditions John Dennis is expected in Cape Town sometime later Saturday with Alan Paris a day later. Their families are already in Cape Town anxiously awaiting their arrival.


The only competitor other than Paris and Dennis still out sailing is Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali. For the last week Simone has been doggedly sailing south and is now on the latitude of Cape Town. He has skirted the High without slowing and at last poll was just over 1000 miles from Cape Town sailing at 11 knots. His perseverance is paying off; if he maintains his current speed he could be in South Africa as early as Monday afternoon although sometime Tuesday is more realistic. Simone has indicated that he would like to restart the race with the rest of the fleet on Saturday at midday