Having covered just 100 miles in the last 24 hours, the chances of Bruno Peyron and team rounding the world in under 50 days are beginning to fade, but they are still on for breaking the current record which stands at 58 days.

Peyron and team are still stuck in a massive high pressure ridge and have no option but to head off the direct course 400 miles west in an effort to skirt the worst of the conditions. In the early hour this morning they were sailing close-hauled in a 9kt north-north-easterly breeze but an optimistic Peyron believes the wind will shift which should allow them to track north, on a more direct route to the finish line.

“There’s no point in getting in a mood about it.” Commented Peyron, “We’ll get there however long it takes? It’s going to take another day and a half or so for us to get more pressure on the sails. The forecasts vary for the final stretch. Some say the second low that we should be picking up is dying on the spot. So it’s all very touch and go.”

During the long periods of flat calm the crew has been reflecting on the last few weeks fantastic sailing but they have not lost sight of what lies ahead. A positive Yves Le Blevec says: “It’s now up to everyone not to get bogged down in negative thinking, which is no help at all to getting the boat moving. Everyone is aware of the situation. Our lead allows us to put up with this kind of problem.”

So, on day 44 they still have 2,404 miles to the finish but have an advantage of currently being 3,759 miles ahead of the Jules Verne record and 3,063 miles ahead of the absolute record set by Steve Fossett on Cheyenne last year.