Leg 5, Day 5 and as the sun rears its head in the Pacific Ocean, the topic of conversation on board has defaulted to those old favourites – food and clothing.

Cracks are also appearing in the monotony of rapid reaching as navigators contemplate lighter airs and chew over a favourable entry point to The Doldrums.

Telefonica Blue’s Simon Fisher, clearly relishing the freedom of an above-the-deck role versus a previous life chained to a keyboard in the bowels of the navigation station, had a novel take on the sameness of the sailing but added that relief is at hand.

"With so much sailing on the same angle in similar conditions you could easily think it's Groundhog Day,” he said. “This is the way it looks to continue for the next few days at least. Reaching, reaching, reaching … The wind will steadily head us and we will slowly curve down to the south to pick up the trades to take us south.

"Despite a slight feeling of monotony amongst the crew, everything onboard is going well. The cuisine is as good as ever, with Spanish jambon, Italian parmesan and even a few fresh oranges are a treat to the palate.”

But only while stocks last.

Fisher revealed that the shedding of layers can play havoc with the nostrils. Though he was not prepared to name names for fear of finding himself in bad odour with the culprits if news leaked out.

"Conditions are now also much warmer so the thermal clothing is slowly being peeled away,” he said. “The only bad things we have to deal with at the moment are a few people’s smelly feet.

"So bad in fact that Jono (Swain) was moving around downstairs wearing a ski mask on his face. The worry is, if the smell is this bad now, what are we going to do in 30 days. For me now it's lunch time, then sleep and the owners of the smelly feet are on deck so I best get to sleep before they return.”

'Boots are being replaced with lightweight shoes’

Fisher’s replacement as navigator for this leg, Tom Addis, noted that climate change meant footwear change.

Swain, who has been there and done the Volvo three times previously, is an old hand in these matters. So when Swain starts swapping from boots to shoes, that’s a cue for rookies like Addis to sit up and take notice.

"Jono is always the last one into boots and the first one out but I think others will follow soon,” Addis said. “It's still very wet outside but it's getting warmer and the wet isn't going to stop anytime soon knowing these boats, so the call will probably be made by most soon to get out of the heavy gear.”

Comfort and spirit levels on Green Dragon are on the rise. Ian Walker writes ... “Life onboard is very comfy (for a Volvo 70) with everyone catching up on sleep and the thermal layers and boots are being replaced with shorts and lightweight shoes.

"Sun cream and sunglasses made an appearance today and you can feel the heat of the sun for the first time since leaving the Philippines. Before long we will have to dig out the fans to help us sleep at night.

"Even the food seems to taste better this leg although we seem to have forgotten the powdered milk which rules out a nice cup of tea. Maybe it will be in tomorrow's food bag.”

Media Crew Member Rick Deppe has reported an equally serious tea famine on PUMA.

"What constitutes luxury here on Il mostro? Well right now I would kill for a cup of tea! We have a slight problem with gas bottles – i.e. we didn't bring quite enough with us. Luckily we spotted it early so its been decided that we will put ourselves on a temporary moratorium on heavy gas usage until we catch up, which means only boiling water for food. That's Life at the Extreme for me.”

Meanwhile, on the race track, the miles are being eaten up. By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, leader Ericsson 4 had covered 1,450 miles of this 12,300 nautical mile marathon.

'We still aren’t seeing many passing lanes’

Ericsson 4 and PUMA, separated by just one mile, have opened a significant gap to the chasing pack. Ericsson 3 (+136 Distance To Leader) holds third and has a buffer to Green Dragon of 72 miles.

The Dragon (+208) has paid dearly for its northerly position and has shed 83 miles in the past 24 hours. “We didn’t mean to be quite so far north, but we had a long period of light and lifted winds two days ago, that ushered us north,” Walker explained.

Telefonica Blue ploughs on at the rear of the field at a deficit of 285 miles to the leading pair. Addis hopes to “stop the bleeding” as they come into more favourable breeze.

“We still aren't seeing any major passing lanes – perhaps a bit of a compression in a few days but nothing much more exciting than that,” he says. “Just have to keep chipping away – day 5 of a long leg like this is no time to be taking big risks on the routing.”

Finally, from PUMA skipper Ken Read, two health bulletins. He revealed to Guy Swindells that flu was prevalent on board though on a brighter note, some of the bumps and bruises sustained in the first 36 hours of the leg have healed.

However, there is still widespread damage to crew members’ ear drums courtesy of the incessant raconteuring of veteran bowman Jerry Kirby.

Under PUMA’s crew rotation policy, Shannon Falcone has stood down for this leg allowing Kirby to rejoin. It would appear that il mostro's gain in terms of experience, is also Mrs Kirby’s gain in terms of tranquillity.

"Clearly Jerry Kirby's storytelling hasn't taken a hit,” Read reports. “As Jerry's wife Kim knows, the peace and quiet on board is now gone and Jerry can be heard laughing and bringing up another story pretty much at all hours of the day.

"Don't tell him I said this but he is the perfect guy for a leg like this. Believe me, there is never a dull moment with Mr Kirby around. And he actually knows when to take things serious as well. Something that I think it has taken all of his years to learn.”

Image: © Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race