Ellen and crew crossed the start line at 0703 GMT on 25 March for leg one of the Asian Record Circuit 2006 see previous news story here . B&Q crossed the line which bears west from Jogashima Light House in Tokyo Bay in upwind conditions of 10knots.

At 0739 this morning Offshore Challenges reports that Team B&Q are sailing at around 13 kts of boatspeed in 11kts of easterly wind, heading down the coast of Japan. They have so far experienced a mixed bag of conditions with wind from all directions ranging from 0 – 24 kts.

They are currently 41nm off the coast and south-east of Japan’s ‘inland sea’. On deck at the moment Ellen and Shaun are sailing under full main and gennaker, in light rain.