Latest despatch from Sam Davies in Vendee Globe
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Hello everyone!

I’ve just been out on deck, having taken a reef. Roxy is reaching in 20-25 knots of wind and there’s a nice sea. After finishing the reef, I sat up on top of my Fleet 77 dome, and marvelled at my surroundings.

It was just another normal day in the Southern Ocean, crisp and cold, a whiteish grey light, and grey-blue sea. I looked aft, and there were two polar dolphins jumping in our wake. They’ve been following Roxy since last night (when I was on deck trimming in the night they were swimming alongside). They are beautiful and stripy, and as far as I can see, they don’t have a dorsal fin like their Atlantic cousins. There was an albatross circling around us, and every so often he dipped towards
the waves and when he climbed up again he was pedalling his feet like he was riding a bicycle – very comical! Maybe he was just doing it to show off in front of me!

At the same time, Roxy was hooning along, occasionally dipping her pole in the water and then zooming off at 23 knots down a wave, the pilot happily in control. I was just riveted to my perch on the dome, taking it all in!

It’s hard to do the scene justice with words, or even photos, but I couldn’t stop smiling at how awesome this is and how amazingly lucky I am to be out here experiencing days like this. That’s why I’m writing it down; not just to share with you, but to try and store all my memories of this race – the good ones and the tough ones – so they’re not forgotten.
Sam x

Yesterday Sam reported: I actually feel rather guilty enjoying the “summer sailing” I’ve got, when a lot of the fleet is suffering storm force winds and perilous waves.

I am so sad for JoJo (Seb Josse), who was having an amazing race, before his boat, BT, got “dumped” by a freak wave. I am in pain for him, I can imagine what a terrible feeling it must be to see potential victory snatched away from you in an unlucky handful of seconds. I really hope he manages to repair and get going quickly. He’s one of my favourite three skippers in this race! Go JoJo – you can do it!

Yet again, these are signs of how powerful this ocean is and how fragile we are within.”
At 1100 UK time today, Sunday, Sam was in 8th position, 1,477 miles from race leader Michel Desjoyeaux aboard Foncia

To follow Roxy and Sam Davies’ progress: www.roxysailing.com or www.samdavies.com