The final cheque may still be in the post, but the last few days have been big pay days for Ericsson 3 navigator Aksel Magdahl.
Having banked plenty of leverage in breaking from the pack and heading north, soon after the scoring waypoint at 36 degrees south, Magdahl and the Nordics have been splashing out on a substantial lead ever since.
As the fleet negotiates the first ice gate and sets itself up for the second on the sleigh ride to Cape Horn, a split has developed and the gulf between the two factions is enormous.
In cricket terms, anything in the 300-450 range is an encouraging score. In the Volvo Ocean Race, when those numbers appear as deficits on the leaderboard, they don’t make pleasant reading.
By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, Ericsson 3, held power at 43 degrees south with a 229-mile advantage over sistership Ericsson 4, with PUMA a further 19 miles behind.
For the boats lying further south (46 degrees) – Green Dragon (+379) and Telefonica Blue (+553) – those Distance to Leader digits are growing at an alarming rate. The boat speed differential between the two packs is as much as 12 knots. Over a 24-hour period that has equated to 531 miles covered for Ericsson 3, to 378 for Green Dragon and 342 for the jury-rigged and injury-prone Telefonica Blue.
On the subject of 400 mile days, PUMA’s Media Crew Member Rick Deppe delved into the memory bank. “I can't help thinking about the first time we sailed 400 miles in a day on the Whitbread 60, it was really quite terrifying,” he said.
"Fast forward 10 years to now and it seems quite routine to sail that distance and each 400 miles takes a big chunk out of the DTF (Distance to Finish) and brings us closer to the corner (Cape Horn).”
It is worth recalling that, in these second generation Volvo Open 70s, Ericsson 4 pushed that 24-hour mark out to 596.6 miles on Leg 1.
There was also some reminiscing from Ericsson 4 navigator Jules Salter and his take on the two schools of thought since the recent weather models rendered Southern Ocean tradition obsolete.
In relation to Ericsson 3’s decision to shun conventional wisdom and head north, it has been out with the old and in with the new, according to Salter.
"Our friends on Ericsson 3 used a carefully thought-out punt over the top,” he said. “This had been lurking as an option since Fiji but old school conservative thinking (south is good) rather tempered our risk assessment.
"This left us taking a loss but at least we are in touch with our main rivals overall. Good to see the Ericsson 3 move, a lot more Arsenal than Chelsea so to speak.”
In a reference to Ericsson 4’s arm wrestle with PUMA as the second ice gate approaches, he recalled a similar battle in the 2005-06 race when he was navigator on Pirates of The Caribbean and the rivals were Bowue Bekking’s movistar.
"We ended up boat-for-boat with movistar approaching the second ice waypoint,” he said. “Last time we had the preposterous situation of two boats overlapped at the mark in the middle of nowhere with movistar choosing to gybe set and the Pirates straight setting spinnakers.
"A few of the protagonists are the same. Again it is Capey (PUMA’s Andrew Cape) and I fretting about whether we have passed the point correctly. Watch leaders have swapped. Stu Bannatyne is with me this time (as I remind him his gybe set resulted in a cross to Pirates by 12 miles a few hours later).
"Capey has the pleasure of the company of Erle Williams who no doubt will be regaling the crew with his tales – Erle’s Continuing Adventures of Flyer – from the old Whitbread days – Justin Ferris must know these off by heart by now.
"It will be interesting to see how this duel in Ericsson 3's wake pans out in the next few grey days. It won't be simple and easy that is for sure.”
Ericsson 3’s Magnus Olsson talks of respect for the “most powerful ocean in the world”, Ericsson 4’s Stu Bannatyne, a five-race veteran, recounts trials and tribulations on New Zealand Endeavour (broach), Silk Cut (broken mast) and movistar (bomb door failure) while Green Dragon's Tom Braidwood and Damian Foxall wax lyrical about the ageing process in that part of the world.
The final word goes to Rick Deppe, who adds pointedly, "It's ironic that people look forward to the Southern Ocean and then once there, just want to get the hell out of it.”
The debate that has raged on Telefonica Blue over the past few days has been settled. No, it has nothing to do with weather models – but everything to do with models and actresses.
The argument centred on one question: Who was the lead actress in Nine And A Half Weeks? There were two views. Jono Swain and Gabry Olivo plumped for Sharon Stone while the Spanish quiz contestants – David Vera and Xabi Fernandez – pushed the Kim Basinger button. With a little outside assistance, permitted on this occasion, it was discovered that it was indeed Basinger who played alongside Mickey Rourke in the 80s fleshfest.
The Basinger dispute was triggered by an earlier query: Which celebrity would you most like to bring on board for a leg (to create extra awareness for the Volvo Ocean Race, to be sure)? Angelina Jolie was the unanimous choice.
"Surprise, surprise, she gets the thumbs up from the majority of the guys and has become first choice,” skipper Bouwe Bekking reported. “I’m not so sure if our wives would agree with one of these choices, and probably we all would get the same veto from them – ‘you stay ashore for this leg’,” he added.
Meanwhile, the crew has shunned taking further wagers on ETA to Rio adds Bekking. “This is the first time that I have sailed in the Volvo Ocean Race that the guys are not betting what the expected arrival date and time is. They are wondering about it, but there's no money on the table yet,” he says.
"I might have to kick start this, as it is lot of fun, to see how people react. You are allowed to change your arrival time twice within a 24-hour period. People get influenced once they see what others write down and I have seen guys in the past just changing the time by a couple of minutes to get better odds of winning the 'jackpot’. Keep you posted on this one.”