Charlie Dalin (France) - Apivia (IMOCA)

“(The wind) has just softened. So far we’ve had 15/16 knots of wind, we’ve been making 13 knots; we’re slower but the conditions are good, it's smooth. We passed a lot of fishermen during the night, they don’t have AIS, just a small white light, so we spent the night on lookout. We crossed paths with a few cargo ships as well.

“I haven’t made the calculations yet, but I think that after midnight UTC we’ll be outside the bay. We’re trying to look after the boat, but we’ll just play the wind that we get during the day; we’ll stay in race mode until the end! We passed the point where we are closer to the finish than the second boat is to us.

“[overnight] Am I having fun? Yes, I am indeed. These boats are fun to sail compared to all my years in Figaros. You don’t sail Figaros for the fun of the boat, more for the tactics, strategy and trying to improve your sailing level. Here, the IMOCAs are performance boats and at the top of what you can do with a monohull. I’m still amazed at how fast we can sail. Right now, I’m sailing at 22 knots, answering your questions in 16 knots of breeze. It’s just crazy.”