From: ABN AMRO TWO QFB LEG NINE DAY 3
Sent: 17 June 2006 08:01

Hi There,

In the final stages of this race we are once more left drifting around in
little if no wind. It is a nervous time here on ABN AMRO TWO as we ghost
through the water at the head of the fleet. We are all praying that we
have enough breeze to carry us over the finish. Simeon (Tienpont) is up
the rig looking for breeze, in fact for the first time in this race
despite being a bowman. At 105 kilos it is no mean feat hauling his bulk
up the thirty metre mast!!

The last 24 hours have been good to us, each sched being a little more
positive than the last, egging the boys onward towards the finish. We
have been free from park ups having always had more breeze than the
forecast as we sailed around the tip of Denmark. However, trickier times
are now upon us. With only 4 knots of wind the going is getting very,
very slow.

Despite the calm conditions and the slow pace of the boat there is little
time to reflect upon what we have accomplished in the last eight months.
That can all come later. There is the odd joke about - this is the last
time we will do this or that, knowing tonight it will all be over. But
for the time being the race is still very much alive for us here and not
nearly over yet. We have yet to secure our position and even get to the
line in the dying breeze...

Cheers, For now,

Simon Fisher - navigator