Words from the sea: Samantha Davies (Britain) and Paul Meilhat (France), Initiatives-Cœur (IMOCA)

Samantha Davies

"We’re still full on. We can see that we’re catching up with the boats in front, we overtook one last night, we’re going as fast we can! 

"Apart from the second day, this is the first time we’re really using them (the foils) properly, as in  it’s the first time we’re really doing a proper reach. We’re definitely really happy, we can see that we’re going as fast as possible for the age of this boat which was always my objective. It’s definitely keeping the boat competitive and it’s not really been any harder to sail. It just makes it more fun in certain conditions. 

"They’re (Banque Populaire) are a target, it’s an extreme target, but we think it’s possible, so we’re giving it everything we can."

Paul Meilhat

"It’s easy reaching, we have around 20 knots and sailing around 18 knots of boat speed. And waves are coming from the front a little, so, it’s not so comfortable. 

"It’s pretty much stable, we had big clouds last night, but since then it’s pretty stable and we had stars and the moon in the night, no problem.

"There are always opportunites because the race is not finished and we can have a tricky moment when we reach the Brazilian coach tonight. It’s pretty close with the boats in front, we will push the boat and we will see. 

"It’s hard to sleep on the boats becuase it’s moving a lot, but we’ve managed some since the Doldrums. We’re in pretty good condition for the finish."