Walker’s World Race Diary - 22 January

Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker analyses the latest developments in the Volvo round the world race in his exclusive diary

Leg three seems a long time ago after the long Christmas break in Singapore. It gave the shore crew time to make some serious improvements to the boat including new daggerboard bearings which we hope will improve the underwater hydrodynamics. We also had to reweigh the boat for the measurers but the sailing crew found time to take a week off and some even returned home for Christmas.

Now it is back to the 'office' and we again find ourselves ploughing upwind as these boats hate to do. This is particularly tough for us as our lighter keel bulb disadvantages us against the rest of the fleet. Still we have fought back hard in the shifty winds of the last 24 hours and we are currently lying in 4th place - a good achievement for us at this stage. There always seems to be some risk out there for the fleet whether it be pirates, storms or icebergs and today that risk is the sunken atolls of the Spratly Islands.

Click below to listen to Stuart Alexander talk to Ian Walker by satellite phone

Click here for the latest developments as Green Dragon suffer a major blow to their chances.

Ian Walker has won two silver medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games and was skipper of the Team GBR challenge for the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2003. Now he is skipper of the Galway-based, Chinese-partnered Green Dragon team in the Volvo Ocean Race and is writing an exclusive commentary for The Independent plus talking to Stuart Alexander by satellite link from the boat during the 10 legs and 37,000 miles that take the fleet from Spain around the world to St. Petersburg.