At 27.40 degrees west, GUYOT environnement – Team Europe dipped into the Doldrums as the most easterly boat and switched from light gennaker A2 to big genoa J0. “We managed some rain clouds and randomly drifts in the night. There is a little swell and when the breeze stops completely the slamming of the sails is annoying. Now we are making good progress with 5 kn in a good direction,” Stanjek said. The crew is, however, troubled by the heat, which becomes extreme on the black boat. The heat is also intensified by the engine, which has to keep running to generate energy for the batteries. Due to large fields of seaweed, the hydrogenerator can hardly be used for this at the moment.

Despite the calm winds, there is hardly any time to relax on board: “We are working the boat south with precise trimming. Let’s see how many days it will take us to cross the Doldrums,” says Stanjek. The wind forecast suggests long leg on starboard in the coming days. Therefore, the weight trim on board was adjusted to this with the shifting of all bags and sail bags. “It was a big effort for the whole crew, but we handled it well,” said bowman Phillip Kasüske, then took the chance to get some sleep in his off watch.