This just in from Lisa aboard the vessel "Gold Coast Australia":

Gold Coast Australia has now been racing for  five weeks in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The anticipation  is building as we near the end of the second race from Madeira to Rio de Janerio after being at sea for 17 days.

Our experience so far includes
the doldrums or the ITCZ as it is officially called, a torn medium
weight Spinnaker, getting many visits from the varied wildlife ranging
from gannets and boobies (the bird) to the giants of the ocean, the
Humpback whale.  We were also continuing to experience the breathtaking
night skies with millions of stars to helm by dotted with so many
shooting stars that you run out of wishes to make as we sailed in the
forgiving trade winds.
As we began to close in on the finish line with less than 400
nautical miles to go we started to complete some of our maintance so
that there would not be so much to complete in port.  We began by
servicing the winches, adding yet more chafe prevention to the ropes and
running repairs, polishing the stainless steel and rubbing out the old
charts.  The crew’s morel was high as the conversations continually
returned to food as we all debated what our first meal ashore will be
and what we have missed when at sea.  For me it was apple pie and
custard and a fresh salad.  Others craved diet coke, sleep, computers
and mobile phones.  I am continually amazed at how easy it is for the
crew’s to leave the technology behind for weeks but as soon as we near
the shoreline they are all chomping at the bit to text their friends and
update their status on Facebook.  Or maybe that is just one crew member
who talked non-stop about it.  As for weather we still had three days
left until Rio and the winds are light however there was a forecasted
weather system that was likely to bring some wind with it.
With the light breeze Yorkshire gained 10 nautical miles on us however once the winds filled in that evening Gold Coast Australia
hoisted our heavy weight Spinnaker and began increasing our lead once
again.  By the end of day 18 we held a 75 nautical mile lead on Yorkshire and a 110 nautical mile lead on Singapore, with
less than 300 nautical miles to go until Rio things were looking good. 
The next day was rather uneventful until the evening closed in and the
stars started to shine.  We were expecting to come close to the Pampo
Oil field in approximately 6 hours and to be able to see the glow from
the lights in approximately 2 hours. 
The second last night at sea this race was filled with excitement
that began with me being awoken by the sound of a Jumbo Jet in the crew
quarters as a huge wave picked us up and flung us down its face like we
weighed no more than a feather.   I could do nothing but brace myself in
my bunk by wedging my arms and legs in the sides and hope for the
best.  I really felt that we were going to broach and the hull was
vibrating uncontrollably with the wave that was showing us little mercy.
The incredible roar of the wave seemed to go on forever but it was
properly only seconds and eventually stoped. Later I found out that the
winds had increased to average 30 knots and we were still flying our
heavy weight Spinnaker and managed to go 23 knots on that big wave. 
Rich Hewson the Skipper said that he was regularly getting 20 knots. 
Dan Aspinall, who was also on deck that night said that half the boom
was buried in the water and there was just so much white wash that you
could not see the bow at all.
This was all during my off watch time and because I am often one of
the helmsman I was trying to get some sleep as the conditions would
require a lot of concentration to helm.  Once again I am lying in my
bunk when I heard the Spinnaker go flap, flap, flap, BANG…  ‘All hands
on deck’, was shouted by Rich quickly followed by a string of orders. 
‘Sheet in’, ‘turn the deck lights on’, ‘ready the halyard for a drop’,
‘all free hands to the leeward rail to receive’.  Yes, you guessed it,
we had blown another Spinnaker. I think that Rich is starting to earn
his nick name ‘shredder’. While this string of commands was going on the
other two watches were all struggling out of there bunks and trying to
find there life jackets and get up on deck.  Eventually everyone was up
on deck in there PJ’s clipped on at the bow trying to retrieve our
seconds shredded Spinnaker that had unfortunately wrapped it’s self
around the inner forestay many times and was refusing to come down
easily.  Almost an hour later we had managed to retrieve the Spinnaker
and get it safely down below however we are now bare headed which is no
good on a race boat so the Yankee 2 was hoisted.
There was little sense in trying to get more sleep as I was to begin
watch in 1 hour and I had so much adrenalin pumping through my body that
sleep would have evaded me anyhow so I enjoyed our now bright horizon
as we crept up on the Pampo Oil field.  When we passed these Riggs the
light that they gave out was amazing.  There was this ship like
structure that rose high out of the water decorated with a million
lights that would make any Christmas tree jealous and at the very top
there was a small pulsing flame.  It made for a very stunning view that
accompanied us until dawn.
From looking at the remaining nautical miles we were expecting to
reach Rio the following day however with 50 nautical miles to go the
wind disappeared leaving us to sit like ducks in a pond in sight of
land.  With the sunset that evening came the wind and we were finally
able to make some ground towards Rio.  Unfortunately for us the wind was
coming straight from the bow so it was tack, tack, tack, through the
night with all the crew getting very little sleep on the rail.  At 0510
in the morning Gold Coast Australia crossed the finish line
with our boat song ‘Welcome to the land down under’ by Men at Work
blaring from the speakers under the welcome shelter of Sugar Loaf
Mountain and the iconic Christ Statue, Corcovado.  The last received
sked before this said that we held a massive 140 nautical mile lead on
Yorkshire with Singapore another 30 nautical miles behind.  The last
boat in the fleet was 700 nautical miles behind.
For us onboard Gold Coast Australia the excitement continues right
until the very end as once we had packed away all of the sails and
hoisted the sponsorship flags the engine decided that it was done and
stoped…  Turns out it was the impeller so a quick repair as we drifted
by Rich and we could finally make port.  The Champaign was popped and
the beer was flowing as we celebrated our second win in as many races as
0600 in the morning.  A well deserved beer I would say.

I have also put together a video of the first race from The Solvent to Maderia. I had problems in both Maderia and Rio de Janiero accessing the internet so I have only got this one to show. I will hopefully be able to share the others when we reach Cape Town.