A look over the transom - week 3 of PGOR

5:29 AM Mon 3 Nov 2008 GMT

'Portimao Global Ocean Race 08' Portim?o Global Ocean Race

Two words sum up week three of the Portim?o Global Ocean Race. Beluga Racer. The German entry, co-skippered by Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme, continue to dominate the race in classic case of the rich getting richer. Since exiting the doldrums Beluga Racer has stretched out a lead that is, barring some disaster, almost insurmountable.

At the 21:20 UTC poll on Sunday evening Beluga Racer had extended their lead to almost 500 miles over the chasing double-handers, Desafio Cabo de Hornos and Team Mowgli. Riding the edge of a swirling low pressure system that spun off the South American coast, Boris and Felix set their largest spinnaker and romped away from the chasing pack. They barely had time to look over their shoulders as they tackled the South Atlantic eating up the miles and spitting them in their wake.

In fact the chasing pack consisting of the two aforementioned double-handed entries and Michel Kleinjans, the leading solo sailor aboard Roaring Forty, have been stuck glued to a syrupy ocean for the past 24 hours with no relief in sight. A ridge of high pressure closed off any chance that the chasing boats could make a move on Beluga Racer and the sultry weather, perfect for sunbathing, sucked the breeze out of the entire region. At the last poll none of the second group were moving faster than a dog out for a Sunday morning stroll. In fact the glassy sea was too tempting for Jeremy Salvesen aboard Team Mowgli. He indulged in one of life's pure pleasures; a mid-ocean swim.

While Beluga Racer has had a charmed leg so far, the real guts of the race has taken place between Team Mowgli and Desafio Cabo de Hornos. The British boat,, with Salvesen and Thomson on board, found their stride as they exited the doldrums and managed to fend off a charge from the red hot Chile peppers aboard Desafio Cabo de Hornos. While the Chilean boat is brand new and by most estimates should be the faster of the two, both boats have suffered sail damage and are even paced. But that did not stop Felipe Cubillos and Jos? Mu?oz from chipping away at the difference, day by day, mile by mile. At the last poll Desafio Cabo de Hornos had a very slim five mile lead over Team Mowgli with both boats pointing on different directions as the flopped hopelessly on a glassy sea.

Like the duo on Beluga Racer, Michel Kleinjans aboard Roaring Forty has also sailed a superb leg remaining in second place on the water for more than a week. Despite an ominous bang that could have led to his mast breaking, and a subsequent scramble to fix a broken stay, Michel has kept a cool head and sailed a steady course. It's not easy to keep a boat going on pace when you are all alone, especially in light winds, but Kleinjans knows his boat and he has retained his lead over the pursuing double-handers.

At the back of the fleet Nico Budel and the South Africa team of Lenjohn and Peter Van Der Wel have also had their private battle with the Flying Dutchman coming out on top. For a 69 year-young man Budel is a wily fox. His boat is one of the oldest in the fleet yet he continues to show the young guns on Kazimir Partners his transom. He clipped the edge of the Recife Gate not surrendering a mile to extra distance sailed, and despite the lousy winds since rounding the mandatory gate he has extended his lead over the Van Der Wel brothers. On board Kazimir Partners Lenjohn and Peter have had plenty of luck, all of it bad. They have the last word in this report.

Portimao Global Ocean Race 08 - Portim?o Global Ocean Race

'Today we have been at sea for 3 weeks, and it is beginning to show and smell. We have now been beating for well over a week and had hoped this would change by the time we arrived at the Recife Gate, but no such luck. Today is just a very unpleasant day of pounding into every single wave and hoping that nothing breaks. Some of the crashes are so loud (you feel like you have just been in a car accident) the whole boat just gets jerked and twisted around. The barometer is reading 86 F and also says there is an 84 % change of wet. Just looking outside and around us, it may be right.'

Congratulations go to Torben Grael and his team aboard Ericsson 4 in the Volvo Ocean Race. The premier crewed around-the-world race started a day before the Portim?o Global Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain. Along the way Grael and his superb crew set a new 24-hour speed record of 602 nautical miles and stormed into Cape Town on Saturday winning the first leg of this epic race. They will, for sure, be enjoying the sights and smell of life on land, something Boris and Felix are starting the hanker after.