Transitional winds shifting counter-clockwise from the southwest have been adding a new dimension to action out on the North Atlantic where the biennial race from Charleston to Bermuda was yesterday in its fifth day.And it now looks as though the first boat won’t finish until today or later.At the head of the 11-boat fleet, Hank Hofford, his wife Susan Ford, and their mostly family crew on board the Shipman 63 Tucana continued to hold the boat-for-boat lead as of noon yesterday.They’ve held that position almost since leaving the Charleston Harbor jetties, some 550 miles astern. But the 15-mile margin they had built over their closest rival as of Tuesday evening had shrunk by half.Yesterday afternoon it looked likely that Tucana could surrender the lead to her sister ship, Vladimir Zinchenko’s Yanosha. And just 15 miles to the north, Stephen Colbert and his team of friends on board the OnDeck Farr 65 Spirit of Juno were within striking distance.Race headquarters have received several updates from the fleet, including a barrage of images sent from on board Rob Turkewitz’s classic ketch First Light. Accompanying those images (including one of crewmember Nick Shahid proudly displaying a large Mahi Mahi caught on a handline) were several descriptions of the action over the past several days, submitted by crewmember Jay Waddell.“We’ve seen large swarms of Portuguese man-of-wars both days,” said Waddell, “which Captain Rob reminded us are in fact fellow sailors, as their large, fin-shaped bodies glide with the wind. We also spotted a pair of rare Bermuda Longtail birds, which reminded us of our ultimate goal that we’re getting closer to every minute. Dolphins are still riding our bow and creating dazzling streams of bio luminescence on our night watches.“We began a swift run downwind about mid-afternoon on Day Four. We’ve raised both the staysail and the mizzen staysail and are now under an absolutely beautiful five sail-rig that’s keeping our velocity within a knot of the apparent wind.“This is at least in part due to our successful entry to a cold eddy spiraling off the Gulf Stream a vindication of captain Rob and navigator Jim Hackett’s plan to make use of these eddies to boost our velocity though it meant taking a significantly different route than the rest of the fleet initially. “From on board the OnDeck Farr 65 Spirit of Minerva, which is under charter to Steve Wherry and several friends, came the following update.Wherry wrote: “72 hours into the race. I’m afraid the crew is beginning to get a little anxious given that we are only half way to Bermuda and previous optimistic transit time projections had us finishing the race in as little as 60 hours with the right wind conditions, which so far we have not had. ““Our race competitors are facing similar conditions, we know, so we’re keeping our heads down and doing our best to press on despite the slow overall progress.“Although we are frustrated with Mother Nature’s meagre wind allowance, she has not forgotten us. Today we saw pilot whales at morning and again in the afternoon just off both sides of our boat. It also has been fascinating to see the many Man o’ War jellyfish here and there, looking just like miniature mariners flying their sails.“One more thing, out this far at sea, the ocean swells become remarkably massive and distinct, giving a real impression of terrain peaks and valleys as we make our way to Bermuda. Best of luck and following winds to our competitors.”Race director Bjorn Johnson said: “The transitional situation with the winds will likely shuffle the order of the standings among the leaders. And given the changing conditions, we don’t expect anyone to finish until later in the day on Thursday, if not after that.”