Annemieke Bes / Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag

gender Female
Witty, below, puts talcum powder in his foulies. "Look at this: I apply the talcum powder like Bes told me." He shakes talcum powder all over himself. This is the best theory. You just get as much of it as you can, and you just cover yourself. This could almost be for the last time. He pulls on his foulies. About 6 hours to the end of the VOR. The V-O-R. He jokes about throwing beer in each other's faces. Annemieke, in her bunk: It's sure he will do it again.Annemike, trimming: Battling here. Don't want anyone between us and Plastics. Very important few hours. Witty: Looks like a photo finish, doesn't it? What other way would you want to finish the Volvo Ocean Race? He describes the position of the boats. Describes the possibilities of how the finish could play out. This has been an amazing mental, emotional roller coaster this race. In 47,000 miles not one thing has changed. As critical as I have been of the boats, and I will stand by that, this is the most amazing round the world race I've ever seen. For a whole bunch of different reasons. Antonio and Trystan grinning on the weather rail.Annemieke, below: Plan is, we're gonna bear away, and catch the whole fleet and finish first. Simple plan but it will work out. Witty: It's like leg 2 into Cape Town, the middle of the bloody Southern Ocean and we're gybing on top of each other. Nothing's changed. I think the boss is quite surprised at how tight and close it is. 100-footers were close but nothing like this. I don't want to look at the AIS ever again in my life. I'm sick of looking at the AIS. We've sailed 40,000 miles and we're still watching the boat next to us to see if they moved a sail a meter forward or back... I think now everyone's at the realization that tomorrow we never have to get on one of these things again and put ourselves through this. I think everything's coming home to roost of just how agonizingly frustrating and mentally tough it is, and we're now counting down the hours. I think if you thought like this any earlier in the race you wouldn't have been able to get yourself mentally right to do the next leg. Owner talks about the course from the cabin to the cockpit. Annemieke: I think as Witty always said, we're a bunch of good lunatics. But yeah, I think we've really bond. Everyone will not say to each other, but I think we're gonna miss each other. We went through so many highlights and major... disasters. Losing Fish. And I think Fish is a big part of the crew, he's with us, you know. Talking for myself I think about him every day. I miss him, and I think that counts for all of us. I think that's a big thing.Drone shots of Scallywag sailing upwind wih TTToP a half mile away. Parko, below: We've basically been match racing with them since the start of this leg, and the position between us has changed a half dozen times now. I don't think anyone's going to change to a smaller sail, and after a couple of hours the breeze should lighten up a bit. Crew working in the cockpit in rougher conditions. Annemieke and Seng Huang Lee on the pedestal. Parko, below: Going through the moding, and you have to laugh sometimes; all the sails are flapping and you're still going 20 knots... Last chance to drive these boats hard before the Hague, in this edition. Slomo washing machine. Parko: It's always amazing toward the end of these campaigns. Amazing events, getting to compete against the best in the business. I think we're going to be close to them the rest of the way; I wouldn't be surprised if our position changes again before the finish. Drone shot.TTToP sails a hundred yards away on their port quarter. The boat owner is on the helm again, gripping the wheel like he thinks someone's going to try to take it away from him. Witty at the nav station: Have you realized the boss is the king scallywag of all scallywags? It all flows from the top down. It seems really happy to have him on board for the leg with all we've gone through and stuff. I think we can pass a few boats and get a good result now with him on board. Nav screen showing other boats around them. Witty talks about what's happened in the race with them lately. Still pretty confident. Only a mile between the back four boats. Nothing to get too worried about at the moment; still plenty of passing lanes. One thing the boss did notice, is people just work harder when things get hard. It's a big thing that I'm proud of with this team. We don't give up. Don't throw the towel in and just work harder. Slomo washing machine. Witty talks about the less experienced crew: Pretty big step up for Alex and Nipper, guys like Parko have been fantastic helping them along, teaching them the ropes. Trystan Seal joined us halfway through the race. They're all cut from the same cloth. Bessie is mad as a cut snake (?), the toughest human I know, and the most positive human I know. And a life friend of mine now, for sure. Couldn't be more proud of her. I think she's the only person in 55,000 miles has never said a negative comment, never got angry at me. When you pick people to be part of a team, you judge them on their character before you judge them on their ability. When you go the other way around you might end up with ability, but you don't end up with a team. One thing I've learned you probably can't be all one way, can't be all the other. Probably need to be more in the middle. But the Scallywag family is growing pretty fast, and the boss has plenty of plans, and plenty of boats, and plenty of stuff to do. So I'm sure the guys that are new to the team for this leg will be around for a long time to come. And I'm sure there's going to be plenty more Nippers and Alex's to come along. It's one of the biggest kicks I get out of doing it. Sunset. TTToP sailing ahead and to leeward.Epic slomo washing machine shots with the newly risen sun behind them. Annemieke does a slomo shaka sign.Trystan passes up "toasties". Lightweight frying pan, ham and cheese. Annemieke jokes about being far down the queue. Annemieke: End of an era. Scallywag in the Volvo. Trystan cleans dishes. Gives Annemieke a toasty. Trystan: Everyone's talking about how much we're going to miss the sailing. All the spectator boats. It's a great race, and I'm for sure looking forward to doing the next one. That's my goal. Libby eats her toasty, talks to Trystan about her favorite version. "Next race."Scallywag blasting in windy conditions with reefed main / J3. Antonio on the stern: Come and do the Volvo and see the world! He gestures at the waves. Witty at the nav station: Rubbish. We're last again. Three lasts in a row. Plus a did not finish. So basically we haven't got any points since New Zealand. So since we were third on the table we haven't got a point. Reaching on deck. Slomo wake. Witty: In 196 miles I get a cold beer, and a piece of steak I can use a knife and fork with, and I get a cuddle from Lynnie. Anniemieke on the stern rubs her hands. "If your hands are warm, your head is warm, your heart is warm." Witty: 30 years of yachting. I don't think I've ever seen a harsher penalty for one very small error, that could have actually not been an error as well. [Thought at first he was talking about Fish. :-( ] 10 miles maybe, even 50 miles wouldn't have been harsh. But we lost 100 miles the first 6 hours of the race, and we're going to finish 25 miles behind them. Slomo spray, wake. Witty: Quite a lot of traffic coming into Gothenburg, ships and stuff, separation zones. So my job the last two watches has been to sit in front of the computer and make sure we don't run into a tanker. Because that would put the icing on the cake, wouldn't it? Massive seas, raining, can't see 6 foot in front of you. 195 miles to go man. Slomo spray on deck.Jack on the helm. Jack, below: I am enjoying it. The conditions that we've got; 25 knots at about 90 true. So broad reaching. Plenty of water over the deck. Reefs in reefs out... Really nice conditions, chewing up lots of miles. But it's very wet. [chuckles] Really wet. Washing machine shots. Jack: We're still pushing really hard. Coming into the team new, I can see how much the team has improved. They're really sailing well. Tough incident at the start, losing 100 miles, but still in great spirits. Montage of crew showing high spirits in the cockpit: Mugging for the camera. Parko. Annemieke. Antonio. Trystan. Libby at the nav station: Went from being flat out on our MH0, came around the corner and it got lighter. Tricky for that reason. Crew work on the foredeck. Libby: We gained 15 miles on the leader, are 27 miles from the next boat. I expect that will close a bit more, which will be good. Slomo washing machine shot. Libby: Still a couple of peels and sail changes, and if someone makes a mistake in that they can drop a couple of miles... We'll see. Slomo washing machine. Libby: Pretty strong conditions coming up. Not that you wish for anyone to break anything. But it's a strange angle, one we haven't done much in sailing around the world. We could find a good mode. It's definitely a good opportunity. Slomo washing machine.Slomo grinding. Annemieke easing the mainsheet. Witty on helm. Witty at the nav station: Just gybed, heading toward the top of Scotland. Everyone's gybed at the same time. Others are about 25, 30 miles to the west of us. It's anyone's match. In tennis terms it's 2 all, end of the fifth, and started to rain. So the best player with the best wet-weather footwear will win. Slomo grinding. Witty at the nav station: If the meterologist next to me has gybed at the right time we'll win. If she's gybed at the wrong time we'll come last for the third leg in a row. So really it's all on her shoulders. How does that sound? Libby: Bring it on. Witty: Bring it on. See? Scallywag, bring it on, never give up. All good; be positive. Breeze will fill, breeze will head. Scallywag will be first at the top of Scotland and reach into Gothenburg. Slomo shots on deck.Drone shot of Scallywag sailing in light conditions. Annemieke: In a transition zone... It's really light; super tricky. Parko on the helm. High drone shot of the boat passing just under the drone in glassy conditions. Bowsprit. MH0 flopping. Witty on the bow: This leg far from over. As we say, we never give up. Last sched we were only 13 miles behind. I think it's 100% changed me. More good than bad. But changed me in a bad way too. The good stuff is I'm more tolerant and definitely more patient. When you can be part of the development of someone like Nipper, or you go through the loss of like Fish and that's like circumstances or other things that have happened... if you're 5 minutes late to work you get caught in traffic or... your priorities change. My priorities have changed a hell of a lot. You realize you can't control anything. You can prepare better than you have in the past, but you can't control anything. Libby at the nav station gets the sched: We're third. I don't really understand the sched. We made a 3-mile gain on the fleet. they're in very light winds. We were the fastest boat by half a knot. As they flop, Libby: At the moment we're smashing the [bleep] out of it!We look into the hot chocolate with protein powder cup. Peter: "It's kind of summing up the last day." Started out with so much promise when you get handed a coffee mug. And now I"m just left wiht a very confused cup. Is it a protein drink? Is it hot chocolate? Do you want it?" Richard: No. Peter: Here's to Neptune. (He tosses it over the side.) Changing sails on the foredeck. Trystan: Yesterday was a pretty dark camp aboard Scallywag. High pressure ridge; last to enter it. Hoping for a bit more compression. Got 10 knots of breeze, and moving nicely. Having just come on watch it's a happier place than it was 6 hours ago, that's for sure. Stacking below. Stacking on deck.Sunrise. Witty at the nav station. "214 miles behind. Imagine what the next sched's gonna be like." They flop. Peter, on the helm. Latest sched just in. (shakes his head) Leg over. Everyone else is doing 20 knots. We're doing 3 knots. Not even pointing at the finish. Unbelievable. Shots of empty milk jar below. Parko: We don't have any milk. We packed protein powder instead of milk powder. The shocker! We all make mistakes. Peter, on the helm. I packed protein. My name's Pete, and I packed protein. Laughs. Annemieke: I put protein powder instead of milk powder in the hot chocolate. I think It's pretty nice. Peter tries it. "Oh [bleep]." Laughs. "You did that on purpose?" Annemieke: No, no, no.Witty and Parko talking below about making the sail change. Fixed-camera shots of making the change. Stacking aft. Heh. Richard is going nowhere near any of this (not that I blame him). Annemieke coming below. Parko, below: We've put a bigger sail up. We're a bit lifted. Going 2 knots faster. Which is good, but means we should have done it earlier... It's super frustrating when you realize we could have been on a different sail sooner by an hour and a half. Probably lost 3 or 4 miles just on sail selection.Parko in the cockpit. Crew on the foredeck making a sail change. Peter on the helm. Sunny, with lighter winds. Witty on the helm. They talk about setting the J3. Libby, from the nav station, reads the sched on the PA. Second-fastest boat. Everyone looks similar wnid strength and direction. Trystan tidies lines in the pit. Spray in the slot. Slomo spray. Annemieke in spray works on a jib lead. Crew on the bow; hoisting the FR0, maybe? Grinding. Wrestling sails on the foredeck, bagging and stacking. Peter, below, talks about his snack: This is regressing to be like a five year old. You need a tub of Nutella, and a carrier. The carrier is the wrap. And you shove it in your mouth. My girls would be proud of me.Peter jokes that the leg is for his 39th birthday. Bessie figures out that yesterday was his birthday. He laughs. Bessie on the pedestal. Sailing fast. Washing machine. Parko on the helm. Weed on the lifelines. Bessie getting her gear on (or off?) below. Outrigger. Libby, at the nav station, wishes Pete a happy birthday. About 7 days from the finish. About 210 miles behind the fleet, which is quite a lot. To be honest I think it's going to be hard to get another boat. It doesn't stop you pushing and trying to find those miles.Drone shot with container ship in the horizon ahead of them as they sail in light winds. More drone shots of them sailing under the MH0. Pole shots. Trystan, below, explains that they're coming to the northeastern point of Brazil. Obviously not overly pleased with where we're lying. But opportunity ahead with the doldrums and the equator to cross. Guys ahead are easing up, so a chance to catch up. Shifting the stack forward. Stacking below. Peter explains forward stacking below. Bessie stacking below.Reefing in a squall. Rain. Parko in the rain in slomo. Parko eating below. Clouds. Parko: Each morning it's a rollcall. We get smacked by a fresh cloud, sail change... Trying to balance that so the boat's on course with not too much or too little sail. Near the equator at sunrise and sunset there's a lot of clouds. When they rain they're pushing or sucking air. In the light conditions have large sails up, and then it's easy to be caught out. Slomo foredeck work. Stacking. Libby on the helm. Annemieke grinding. More stacking. Shot of spray washing off hte foot of the headsail. A skua flying overhead.Rain in the cockpit. Witty in the hatch jokes that the boat should have been designed longer and higher, so it would be more comfortable. Libby talks about tacking. We see the tack. Annemieke: "There's another breeze coming." Slomo stacking. Stacking below. Another tack on deck. Libby at the nav station talks on the PA: "Yeah, that's Akzo on the bow." Ben below: Another tack? J1 going up, with Ben then hauling on the furling line to furl the MH0 (or J0). Parko, below: That was a four-hour frenzy. Plenty of tacks. Plenty of MH0 to J1, and moving all the equjpment. We can see almost everyone in the fleet, so pretty much restarting. Libby: This is racing like people race at their club. Nip and tuck. And we're doing that for 20 odd days at sea. Sunset with clouds.Sunrise. Alex on the helm. Clouds. Alex: Massive header. Ben sleeping against the stack. Witty at the nav station: Not very good. Brunel got a bit of speed and got through to leeward of us. Decision on where to tack today. Computer screen with routing software. Parko looking through binoculars. Annemieke: We have our moments when we do well; other times we struggle. Difficult conditions. Very choppy sea state, and the windspeed is up and down. You see it in the whole fleet. Rain showers to windward. Peter on the helm. Witty talks to Parko about what the boats to leeward are doing. "We might not get over all of them but we'll get at least some." Ben wrestles the MH0 (I asssume) aloft on the bow.Annemieke, trimming the main on the stern, and Ben, steering, shout, "Point Nemo!" as waves wash over them. Below, Annemieke explains about Point Nemo: Farthest point from land on earth. Fish, below: "Not many people come to such remote spots on the planet. So, you know, it is a weird thing, but it's not something we dwell too much on to be honest." Washing machine shots on deck. Fish: "The cold is one thing that affects people in different ways. Some people struggle and go crazy with it. Others battle through. I think Bessie's used to the harsh winters of Holland. She seems to always be with a smile on her face. Which is quite infectious. But others are struggling, to say the least. The Antipodeans, they don't like it." Witty, below: When I grew up my mother had three brass monkeys on the windowsill in the kitchen. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. "And it's that cold, it's frozen the balls off a brass monkey." Alex talks about how it was 3°. "Bloody cold." Talks about spending short little stints down below, 15 minutes, to have a breather and warm up while on watch. Washing machine shots of grinding in the pit.Parade. Conch-blowing. Witty blows a kiss as they dockout to "Beautiful Day." Witty on the helm: Good turnout, isn't it? People are finally starting to realize they can do it. Prestart. Tacking. Alex calls the angle on Vestas and TTToP to leeward. Ducking AkzoNobel. Annemieke trimming.Parade. Conch-blowing. Witty blows a kiss as they dockout to "Beautiful Day." Witty on the helm: Good turnout, isn't it? People are finally starting to realize they can do it. Prestart. Tacking. Alex calls the angle on Vestas and TTToP to leeward. Ducking AkzoNobel. Annemieke trimming.Sailing in light air in the moonlight. Witty at the nav station talks about how anything could happen. "It is entertaining and it keeps us all awake." Sunrise: We see AkzoNobel on the horizon. Crew talks about how it's insane that they're a mile away. "We've been further away in in-port races." Trystan on the helm talks about the competition. "It's all on." Shot of the land as they sail quietly past. Marcus: Almost there. "Cool sunrise." Annemieke on the foredeck points out AkzoNobel. "21 days of sailing, and you're in a match-race battle... Can't be more beautiful." Shots of AkzoNobel drifting a mile away. Witty trimming witih New Zealand shore behind him. Quiet, intense sailing.Marcus, on the helm, talks about going into stealth mode. Hasn't really paid off. Libby at the nav station: Akzo's always been in better pressure, so they've been okay. Marcus: Next passing lane's the top of Auckland. Akzo is arriving an hour before them, tide against them and lighter wind. So a chance to catch them there. Antonio: All well-rested. A lot of peeling, sail changes, at the end of the leg. Alex will be full-on. Alex: We'll have Akzo on our bow and Turn the Tide on our stern. Trystan: It's gonna be carnage, I think. Witty: Seriously, I don't really care any more. I just want to get in. Horrible... Boring... leg. Wonder what they're doing on Brunel. Measuring their fingernails. Let's just get to the finish. Hopefully we can pull a rabbit out of our hat, a lizard out of the drain, a dolphin out of the sea, and get ahead of AkzoNobel. Annamieke, trimming, waves to the camera as Witty grinds the runner.Sunrise. Crew talks about Akzo being 6 miles north of us. Foredeck. Crew smiling. Morale seems good. Fish on the helm. Just a lot of cool shots without a lot of dialog; just the crew being happy, moving well. Relaxed.Crew goofing: "Ooooh! Let's go sailing." Sailing on port in stronger wind. Outrigger. Alex, Marcus smiling. Libby at the nav station. Pressure to the south. The more they can hook into that, the better. Trystan puts on foulies; talks about it being nice that they're dry again. Slomo shots of them sailing fast. Spray. Libby talks about trying to pass Akzo. Trystan lies in his bunk. Four days to go. Alex, above him, says it's three. "Last day doesn't count." Annemieke steers in goggles. Slomo spray coming over the bow.Red light shots at night. Light conditions. Fish talks about how they were heading round the reef at the top end of New Caledonia. Only a few miles from Akzo, and a cloud came between us. Witty: good thing is that they're out of AIS range. For the last 20 minutes literally going nowhere. They're going 13 knots. That whole distance is just one cloud. Fish: Just one of those very frustrating hours. Want to pull your hair out. Witty talks about how they almost had them. Bird (I think a Blue-footed Booby? Something like that.) Witty announces the latest sched on the PA. 7.8 miles behind Akzo. Annemieke talks about how they're all in one lane now. Sunset. Birds. A booby on the bow pulpit.Glassy conditions. Sunrise. Ben cranks the runner. Annemieke on the helm. Flopping. Sailing in rain. Marcus on the bow talks about a bad sched, and TTToP slipped through. And Brunel had a breeze from the east. Still in touch with everyone. A long way to go; can't get too hung up in the emotions of one sched. Pole shots. Trystan stands on the boom looking ahead. Libby and Witty talk about "dot to dot." Witty: I'm going to the bow; I've heard enough. On the bow, he talks about the luck of the draw. Sounds discouraged. Pole shot of the keel underwater. Instruments.Wake shot looking down, then panning up to show light conditions. Trystan on the helm. Talks about AkzoNobel behind them. "400 miles of this" (doldrums). Shot of AkzoNobel a few miles away. Pole shots (I think?) or maybe very small-movement drone shots. Annemieke talks about the stress of having a competitor so close. Witty kids her. Antonio talks about how hard it is to work in the sun. So can only be on the helm for short periods. Headaches. Not healthy. Shot of Alex going up the mast, then on deck he talks about AkzoNobel.Slomo spray. Looking up the slot. Annemieke trimming in goggles. Ben makes the shaka sign. Ben talks with Marcus about them doing well strategically, for a change. Fish steering. Talks about the importance of the every-6-hours sched. In about 10 minutes time. Fisheye lense views of the cockpit. Witty at the nav station. He gives the sched via the PA. They've gained 20 miles on the leader; just 20 miles behind. Below, he eats. His favorite meal is probably the been stroganoff. More shots of spray as they sail fast on starboard. Below, Witty reads a new sched over the PA: They're now 6 miles in front. "Patience is a virtue." Witty talks with Marcus about the strategic situation. "Keep it rolling." Marcus talks about the pictures of clouds on the computer. "I don't know what it means." Witty: "I don't know what it means either... My son had to teach me how to play Minecraft."They sail on starboard toward a rainstorm in light conditions. Drone shot circling them with the MH0 up. Trystan explains what the doldrums are with rainstorms on the horizon behind them. Alex: "It's a shitshow." Rain. Witty: "Roll the dice time." Cloud management. Can't really worry too much about what the other guys are doing. Rain on the horizon. Sped up drone shot circling the boat. Light conditions. Fisheye lens. Libby on the helm; Annemieke wearing goggles (why the goggles?).Drone shot of Scallywag sailing upwind under the J1 on port tack with an island in the bakcground. Witty on the helm. "I like to be in front, everyone likes to be in front, everyone likes a winner. Long way to go, though." Witty reminisces about racing in the good old days; not with this freeze-dried food. Cocktails. Drone shots. Doubleheading in strong wind. Washing machine. Trystan grinding. Alex on the helm. Slomo of Trystan (I think?) spraying water on his face. Water in the cockpit. Fish getting drenched in the pit. Annemieke wearing ski goggles while trimming. Marcus (maybe?) grinding in slomo. High drone shot looking down.Washing machine shot of cockpit. Slomo spray. Marcus, below, talks about how wet the boat is. "I've never seen boats like this. They are just So. Wet. It's epic. It's good fun though. Nonstop spray in your face; no reprieve." Fish, below, talks about fast sailing. Slomo spray on deck. More spray. Annemieke talks about holding on, it's pretty bumpy. Slomo spray washing over Annemieke. Alex at the nav station, with Libby behind him, makes a wrap with a tortilla and something in it. "It's almost like normal food." To Libby: "Cutting the corner again." Witty talks about food, mangoes. Libby talks about how the northern group will get into some lighter winds and they'll be able to close some distance. Shots of nav software. Fish: "It's all to play for. Like we saw in the last leg going the other way." The nav team is pretty happy with where they are and where they're going, and he has every confidence in them.Drone shot of Scallywag bouncing while triple-heading on starboard. Nav station shot of nav software with clouds. Libby talks about the wind dropping to 7 knots, but they know there is a line of wind ahead. High drone shot of Scallywag running in lighter conditions under cloudy skies; possible rain in the distance. Libby: "It's all good, because we were getting a little bit twitched about no breeze; there was a little bit of drama. [She mimes: 'Aaaaahhhh!'] But... it's here." View from the stern of spray, washing machine. Witty, below, talks about if they can do 3 more scheds today without a loss... Talks about the bad seaway, pushing hard with up to 35 knots. "One sched down, got three to go. If we can get through the next three scheds without a loss, there won't be enough runway left for them to catch us." Talks about sending it - but not breaking it. Drone shot of bad seaway. Luke: "You pick your times to push, and we pushed pretty hard last night." Annemieke: "It's so nice to have four people on deck, because we can really send it now." Compares it to the Southern Ocean, with only three people on deck. "The retrieval of Alex was one of the highlights. I'm so proud of how quickly we got him back." Morale is really high. "I think we're a pretty happy team at the moment."Drone shot of Scallywag against the late afternoon sun shimmer. Ben sits on the foredeck. "We've lost contact with all the boats we found the other night. And we're a fair few miles behind, which is a bit shit." Still in the doldrums, though, so there's always a possibility, he says. Talks about working hard and getting close, and then you "have a bit of a whoopsie"... Below, Alex eats and talks about the competition. Shot of the wind map. Alex talks about Libby's predictions, chances of making gains in the approach to Hong Kong harbor. "It's not bad, Thai green curry." Drone shot. On the helm, Ben talks about how King Neptune was a bit ill during the equator crossing in the Atlantic, so he's had a bit of a holiday, and is going to make an appearance here. Grant emerges from the cabin as Neptune. (Not gonna win any Best Costume Design Oscar for this one. It's a... sheet wrapped around him? And an unadorned boathook as a trident?) Looks like the victims are Annemieke, John, Alex, and Trystan. "Where are the children of the South?" Neptune sprinkles water on people. "Do you wanna be welcomed to the North?" They mumble "yes" in reply. Witty walks by with spray-on hair color and sprays them. Then he throws a disgusting bucket of something on them. Annemieke explains that Neptune has made sure they are safe in the Northern Hemisphere. Shot of the bow-tie pasta in the green slime on the cockpit sole. Alex, covered in goo, says, "No more bad juju. It's done. We're good... We're gonna clear every cloud now and win the race." Below, Grant and Witty at the chart table pull up the sched. Grant does musical accompaniment. Witty: "Sun Hung Kai leading." Grant: "Hey!" Alex, on deck: "Hopefully we can hold our position here. But it's still only 6 knots of wind, so... still some clouds around." Shot of the sunset. Alex: "...and you can go from a rooster to a feather duster in the space of a sched." Alex says there's 7 days to Hong Kong, and they're back in the fight again, so that's good. Sunset with John on the helm.Mostly dark sky. Drone shots of Scallywag sailing in the doldrums. Alex below. Libby and Witty below at the nav station, checking a sched. Libby: "Made gains on the fleet. Fastest boat; going a whole 4 knots." Drone shot of sunrise. Witty: "We're worried about finding a passing lane between here and Hong Kong. Because we can't finish here into Hong Kong." Libby talks about another 250 miles of light stuff. Annemieke in the bow: "Boring!" Annemieke in the bow. Alex talks about his messy roommate, Bessie. Talks about the heat, difficulty sleeping. Shot of crew sleeping on the bow. Annemieke talks about the difference when they're moving vs. when they're not. She feels like they're doing well.Drone shots of Scallywag triple-heading with the sun behind them on port, then on starboard. Annemieke, on deck, explains that they did a few gybes to stay in pressure. Says their gybes are getting better, sailing with 9 crewmembers. "It's way easier for us now than in the previous leg." More drone shots. Trystan, on deck, talks about getting into the swing of things, stacking and gybing. Shot of the foredeck. Witty: A thousand miles to the doldrums, set up on this lane, just off the Queensland border, looking forward to dim sum. "Very much looking forward to getting out of the position we're in at the moment..." He talks about how much easier it is with 9 crew. "I'm quite happy to be one of those people who puts his hand up to say I was completely wrong about sailing with less numbers... We're going to sail with maximum crew for the rest." Talks about having made a few more changes than he wanted, but that was due to the grueling previous leg. Hopes the new guys work out. Cool low-altitude drone shot tracking behind Scallywag as they sail on starboard in 12 knots of wind.Ben does a radio [?] voice: "...Scallywag, 5483, bound for Melbourne." Tom sits at the nav station with António behind him looking at routing software. Tom: "My life consists of 3 hours on, 3 hours off. 3 hours on. 3 hours off. I don't even know what time it is. I don't even know if it's morning or night. It all looks the same down here. [To António] What time is it?" António: "8:30... In the morning." Tom: "We've been in sunlight now for 9 hours. It's 8:30 in the morning. Go figure." Parko sits on the gally, picking through a bag of some sort of food, picking out his favorite bits and eating them. Talks to Alex, who's getting his foulies on. Parko: "Mom must be angry." Alex: "Mom, don't tell me what to do!" Parko: "But mom, I'm in the middle of the ocean." Parko: "I'm going on watch. A bit delirious. I probably should have slept, but I didn't. So I've got a lot of sugar and some coffee and I'll be good. We need to turn left. [laughs] We're going across Free-o [Freemantle?] and the Australian Bight. But there's two big ridges in the way. Once we're across them we'll be all right. But there's a big stop sign in the middle. Highway 1 is about to shut down." Alex reads the label of his protein bars. "Times two. Lunch." Parko: "I think morale's starting to pick up a bit. Everyone's dried out. Fresh pair of [something], fresh pair of socks; everyone's starting to smell a bit better too... We just don't want to have to gybe around the finish and start again. Want time for a little snooze." Alex, with talcum powder [?] on his hands, jokes with Annemieke. Alex: "Hey, Bessie. High five!" They slap hands and a cloud of powder fills the air. They laugh. Fish talks about how they're halfway, forecast is quite nice, sun's out and it's a bit drier, and everyone's happier. "And the kettle's just boiled; perfect." Ben puts food cubes in the mug in preparation for the hot-water treatment. Annemieke: "We're just enjoying what we're doing. It's not always ideal; we're all wet. But we're all happy. And we just found out that we're getting pretty late into Melbourne; the forecast has lightened down. So not that much time for preparation for Hong Kong."Nipper grinds while Annemieke calls trim. Witty explains that there was a problem with the water; too much chlorine caused a few crew to throw up. (Presumably he's kidding about seasickness.) He gestures at Tom, on the helm. "Clouty's just come on deck for the the first time since the start." Shot of another boat (Vestas?) on port on their weather quarter. Witty talks about hanging onto the leaders, should gain when the wind goes right. Two competitors ahead of them and to weather: Brunel and Dongfeng? Witty talks about how only one thing happens when you go in this direction: It goes nuclear. Below, Antonio eats while looking at the computer. He says to Konrad: "I managed to eat something properly. Gaining my sea legs. It's good." He puts on his foulies. Talks about the big transition coming in three hours' time. Grinding on deck. AkzoNobel crosses behind them. Parko talks about their preparation on shore. Witty, with AkzoNobel continuing on port behind them while they stay on starboard, talks about the good prep from their shore team for the current wind condition. Witty: "Being a little more proactive witih our decisions rather than reactive. I'm sure we'll get it wrong soon, but it seems to be working at the moment."Drone shots of Scallywag in the foreground, sailing slowly on port tack, with TTToP a few hundred yards ahead of them. Ben, on the weather rail: "Trying to chase down these guys, getting 0.1 of a mile when we can. It's been very close." Shot of TTToP ahead of them. Annemieke, in the cockpit: "We're gonna take over that boat. And [she glances ahead and to leeward] the other boat? And then we're gonna be number... what is it? Five. Fifth. That's the plan. And we're getting closer. We're 0.4 miles from Turn the Tide on Plastic. So it's gonna be a battle today. Twenty-one days of racing, and it comes down to the last day." Drone shot looking down on Scallywag passing below. Ben: "We're all on the exact same playing field, all one-design boats. All have the same speed, so it's easier said than done." Drone shot from ahead of TTToP looking back to show them in the foreground, Scallywag in the background.Drone shot of Scallywag close reaching on port. Cockpit shot looking forward. Annemieke, at the nav station, talks about sending an email. Annemieke: "I think it's day eight? Nine?.. This is the first I've sent. They must have been waiting for a message. I have to be honest [laughs] I didn't know exactly how it worked."Below, Annemieke talks about Neptune. Alex talks about getting a "visit from a special person." Fish, in the cockpit: "I'm not too sure, but there might be a bit of brightness coming into our lives." Tom, below: "Anything's possible as far as I can see. And on this boat, anything really is possible." Ben, below: "Time will tell what punishment is in store for me, and for the other guys who haven't crossed the equator."Slo mo shots: Alex stands on the cabin, reefing the main as Scallywag reaches on port in windy conditions. Annemieke smiles at a sailor in the foreground, holding a sheet and unclenching a hand to show white discoloration. Someone (not sure who) being drenched in the pit by a cascade of white water.On deck, Annemieke talks about her sailing career, sailing Optimist dinghies, then international classes and Olympic classes, sailing in two Olympics, and now here. Drone shots of Scallywag sailing on port gybe under A3, J2, J3. Shot of Annemieke on the helm at dawn. Annemieke: "I think the highlight of this trip so far was this morning, sailing on the helm." Slomo shot of Scallywag sailing on starboard tack into the setting sun in windy conditions with a competitor visible ahead and to weather; I think that's probably Dongfeng on the first afternoon of Leg 2. Shot of Annemieke (I think) on the grinder in the spray coming over the boat with a reefed main. Back on the boat today, she talks about getting her boots wet the first hour of the race. Annemieke: "I think it's great to be here. There's no other place I'd rather be. Look around. It's champagne sailing." Drone shot of Scallywag sailing with the sunrise behind.Pretty drone shot: Scallywag reaches south on port in 10 knots of wind while silhouetted against the sunrise. Annemieke on the helm. Witty, in the cockpit, asks deadpan: "What is stealth? Stealth bomber? Is Dee all right? Are they okay?" Below, at the nav station, Steve explains stealth mode, and that TTToP have engaged it. Witty, below, explains the he thinks it's not a good time to have used it, since all the boats are pretty much sailing directly south in steady wind. More drone shots. Witty: "It's a bit like poker... You need to know when to bluff and when not to bluff."Pretty clouds before dawn. Witty, on the foredeck, coordinates with the cockpit on sail trim. In the cockpit, Witty jokes about having ADHD: "I'm like a cat chasing its tail. Like a little baby cat chasing its tail." Annemieke checks sail trim. From the pit, she talks to Konrad about sailtrim. Shot of her trimming before dawn. Annemieke: "You have to really adapt quickly. If you hang around too long on a certain setting, you can lose a few miles on the rest of the fleet." Witty: "Clearly, I actually have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just lucky the ropes are different colors." On the foredeck, Witty helps stack the sails forward.In early mornnig Steve steers. Winds are about 7 knots with Scallywag on port gybe. Witty stands next to Steve and does narration for a mock TV show, the "Steven Hayles Breakfast Show." Witty: "Lovely morning here on Scallywag!" He introduces the crew: "the definining chin laws Tom Clout" (?) (on mainsheet), Alex Gough. Witty: "We also have our raging psychopath safety officer, John F-f-f-fisher." Camera pans to reveal Fish wearing what looks like a muzzle as he stands at the aft pedestal. Witty: "From the northern beaches of Amsterdam, Dr. Clogs!" Annemieke, wearing a false gray beard, gives a thumbs up. Steve asks Dr. Clogs: "Our skipper David has a rash on his scrotum, and I would like to know how these two are meant to apply the Sudocrem." Annemieke is unable to answer. [Edit: Video appears to have been removed, presumably by VOR media people in response to the Rule 69 protest referencing it? Dunno.]Annemieke on deck, looking tired. Annemieke: "We didn't have a lot of sleep last night. So everyone is trying really hard to stay fit... It is nice on this team, because sometimes your teammates just say hey, maybe you should catch up some sleep. Better for everyone." Witty: "You want to beat someone in a sport, you want to beat them fairly with fair play. You don't need to go to extremes. That's not what sport's all about, whether it's amateur sport or professional sport... You get brought up by your parents with a set of values, always do the right thing, to be a sportsman, have a sense of fair play, a sense of values, and that's what you do." Night shot of John (?) working the pit, getting a halyard on lock, then crew grinding to furl. Audio continues over daytime drone shots from above Scallywag. Shots of Ben, and then Tom, working on deck.Below, Alex patches the A3. He explains that it got some small holes during the leaving lap. We see him (jersey: "ALEX"), Ben ("NIPPER"), and Annemieke ("BESSIE") patching the sail.