The race to make Christmas

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Many of the 96 men and women competing in the Volvo Ocean Race are losing hope of reaching families and friends for Christmas after a slow start to the third leg.

The eight crews in the round-the-world yacht race are trying to beat pirates, currents, and the clock as they hope to reach land for Christmas Day.

The teams departed from Cochin, India at the weekend, and are headed to Singapore, where they will spend Christmas Day with families and friends -- if they make it in time.

The leg is 1950 nautical miles long and the fleet had been expected to arrive on December 23, but strong currents have slowed the progress of the eight crews, putting Christmas arrivals in doubt.

By Wednesday, the fleet had just passed under Sri Lanka on their east-bound journey towards Singapore.

At that point Telefonica Blue led the race, while Team Puma was close behind in second and Telefonica Black sat in third. In fourth place, overall race leader Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael, was not far from the leaders.

Click here to get a live update on the race from the official Volvo Ocean Race tracker.

Team Puma skipper Ken Read described the rush to make it to Singapore for Christmas, and the agonizingly slow speed at which they were traveling in his email for the Volvo Ocean Race site.

"We have been rounding the southern tip of Sri Lanka for what seems like a week now, and it is getting tiring. The whole fleet is in the same boat though.

"Light headwinds and lots of current on the nose. It's been like two knots for well over a day. Doesn't Mother Nature understand that we have Christmas dinner waiting at the other end and we have to make it on time?"

While the leading teams are more likely to manage a Christmas arrival, some of the trailing teams are beginning to realize Christmas could be a struggle.

Matt Gregory, navigator on board Delta Lloyd, which was sitting in eighth and last place on Wednesday, said the team's supporters were among the most anxious about seeing them arrive for the 25th.

"For the past couple days all of the wives and girlfriends of my team mates have asked me if my forecasting models will get us to Singapore in time for Christmas.

"I didn't have the heart to tell them directly what I was thinking. The truth is, I don't care when we get to Singapore. All I want for Christmas this year is a podium finish," Gregory wrote on the Volvo Ocean Race site.