SAILING:IT WAS a great feeling to be out in front of the fleet as we said goodbye to Rio and raced out into the South Atlantic on our way to Boston.

We had a good start on board Green Dragon and left the harbour in second place, just two miles behind Telefonica Blue. We both decided to stay close to the coastline, where we picked up more breeze than the other five yachts who sailed further offshore.

It looks like we’ve fallen right back on the leaderboard, but in fact we’ve decided to take a hit now to get as far east as possible.

We had a terrific send-off as thousands of spectators lined Copacabana Beach to watch the start of the race.

We sailed a short course within sight of the beach to put on a bit of a show for the locals, before we rounded a mark and made our way out to sea on this 4,750-mile leg.

Just last week the race organisers added another 250 miles to our journey, as we were told to sail around a new waypoint just off Boston. Large numbers of whales are mating in the area at this time of the year and, understandably, they want to keep us out of the way. After the last epic, 12,300-mile leg, another 250 or so doesn’t really bother us!

It was a very slow start as we crawled along at an average speed of three to four knots, and we found ourselves submerged in huge rolling seas, so it has been quite a delicate operation.

We sailed quite conservatively at the start. It’s never worth the risk of breaking gear or, even worse, hitting the rocks, as Telefonica Blue did at the beginning of the last leg.

Rio is one of the most spectacular harbours to sail from, but it can also be quite tricky to negotiate. We sailed just metres away from the rock face of the famous Sugarloaf Mountain which marks the entrance to the harbour. Then we had to navigate around all the little islands and rocks that are strewn across the exit, not to mention dodging the hundreds of spectator craft.

From Copacabana we set off towards Cabo Frio some 80 miles up the coast, and here we were able to make a left turn and point towards the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha Island some 1, 300 miles away.

The Green Dragon is in great shape. Our shore team have done a fantastic job, as always. You’d never think the yacht had been through the Southern Ocean just a few weeks ago.

All the guys on board are in great form too, settling into the race quite quickly and doing a lovely job so far. We’re all fully refreshed and recovered after the last leg, which at times felt like it would never end. We were at sea for 42 days, and on these boats that’s a long time. Navigator Ian Moore is back on board, along with Anthony Merrington, who had to step down in China due to a back injury. Irishman James Carroll replaces Tom Braidwood on this leg.

We’re in fifth place overall in the race now, with Ericsson 3

just three-and-a-half points ahead. Although we’ve sailed almost three-quarters of the race and feel very much like we’re on the home run, there are still nearly half the total points up for grabs. So there’s an awful lot to play for.

Over the next day or so we should see the wind fill in from the east, which will set us up on a reaching course up the Brazilian coast. It looks like it might be quite a drag race up as far as Fernando once this breeze fills in, and then boat speed will be king.

That’s not so good for us, as our boat just isn’t as fast as most of the other yachts.

So for us on Green Dragon, the more tactical decisions, tricky sailing and manoeuvring there is, the better. This is where we can make most of our gains.

Only time will tell how this leg will pan out for us. As a crew, we’re hungry for the podium positions which have eluded us for the past few legs. We need our day in the sun.