AFTER the battering of the Bay of Biscay, Sam Davies has been enjoying some relaxation time as the weather improves on the Vendée Globe race.

The 33-year-old from Hamble was this afternoon lying mid-fleet in 13th position, 205 miles behind race leader Loick Peyron as the yachts head towards the Equator.

Davies said she was enjoying the sun onboard her boat Roxy and had even managed to get some much needed rest.

“At last the sun is really shining so I have got my Roxy bikini out,” she said.

“The trouble is I'm a bit white so I'm piling on the sun cream to protect my skin, and trying to stay in the shade.

“Last night I slept a lot.

“In fact, I forgot to set the sound part of my alarm clock, so instead of a one hour sleep, I woke up five hours later, feeling a bit lost and confused, but extremely refreshed.

“The reason I slept so well was also that Roxy was slipping along so nicely under spinnaker that her gentle purring helped me sleep.

“If ever she slows down or something changes, I wake up by the change of noise or motion.

“This time, the wake up was due to the wind lifting us; Roxy was saying she was no longer happy and perhaps this was a good opportunity to get further west.

“I agreed, so we gybed across, passing in front of the little red and green navigation lights of Pindar.

“Now, back on port gybe and heading directly into the Doldrums, we are still slipping along nicely under the beautiful Roxy spinnaker.”

At the last position report, Mike Golding was keeping up with the leading boats in seventh, Brian Thompson was in 12th, Dee Caffari was in 16th, and Jonny Malbon was in 19th.