Hi all, these North winds have been dogging us for some time now. They are making a mess of the typical SSW winds. We look at the forecasts and sit around in a state of readiness waiting for the shift... but no joy recently. Today looks set to be the same.

We dropped Malcolm off in Swakopmund this morning as he is set to fly back to the UK later today. The forecasts say we should get wind tomorrow but I will believe it when I see it. The morning high tides are beginning to overlap into the early afternoon and each day gets better for us.

So we all sit here in the container with VESTAS SAILROCKET outside under her covers hiding from the midday African sun. We are currently watching Hydroptere's website to see if they will go sailing today. It's great to know that they are chasing our numbers for a change... the trouble with this scenario is I also know how motivated they will be to beat them!!!

We have made the mods to VESTAS SAILROCKET which at this stage include tucking the foil under another 2 degrees to account for full-load structural flexing and fitting a reverse flap on the inboard end of the beam to put an aerodynamic downforce inboard which will work irrespective of the hydrodynamics. The outboard lifting flap has also been dialled up a notch to lift a fraction more. The higher the pod flies, the higher the negative angle of attack of the whole beam. One of the troubles with the flip scenario was that the whole front lifted without much roll. We will tread a little more carefully when we sail in ideal conditions and will do the first run with the wing eased a little to monitor the performance in case there are any other little demons waiting.

We have all looked at all the relevant videos in detail and considered all aspects of the boat and program in general. Some of the comments from people watching the project relate more to an entirely different boat and time line to what we have on the plate before us. We are well aware of the shortcomings of this Mk1 design as we approach its limits and we are equally well aware of the options at our disposal for a Mk2. Our objective is to get the outright speed sailing record and we still believe that we can do it with our current boat. We have put around another 70+kg's of down force on the front of the boat and coupled with a cautious approach we should be able to proceed in a safe enough manner.

We have six days left in this session and we won't be extending this particular session beyond this.

Fingers are crossed and thumbs are held.

Cheers, Paul.