The British tandem Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) and Mike Golding (Ecover) are almost sailing neck and neck towards the West Indies at more than 15 knots. The Azores are less than 200 miles away and the duo have extended their lead on the boats in their wake. Joé Seeten Arcelor-Dunkerque, in third position in the IMOCA Imoca #IMOCA class, is more than 160 miles behind ! The northern route has paid off, with less violent storms than the brutal squalls in the south two nights ago, which caused a lot of damage to the fleet.

The boats’ positions indicate that the majority are on a course heading south of the Azores archipelago to round the Azores High (anticyclone) to the east. Those who pass the high pressure too close risk getting stuck with little wind. Those who pass far west will get a more solid wind, but with more miles to Guadeloupe.

Roland Jordain on Sill, who led the fleet the first three days, is heading to Madeira for a 3-5 hour pit stop to repair his torn main sail. The sail was torn above the third reef point by a violent gust yesterday morning. Jordain hopes to reach the island of Porto Santo in the northern archipelago of Madeira tomorrow morning.

Very discrete since the start in S^t Malo, race veteran Mike Birch has only surfaced from his silence in the past two days to get news of his good friend Philippe Monnet. 71-year old Mike Birch is tired after the night’s struggle right in the middle of the weather system, which whipped the multihulls. "The slight weather improvement has finally enabled me to sleep for a while and to restore myself adequately. I am on a south-westerly heading and I am still happy to be racing."

The British skipper Conrad Humphreys’ Hellomoto dismasted last night and is heading to Brest Brest #brest . "It’s absolutely gutting to see this little yacht in such a state. I’ve been trying to piece together exactly why the rig should fail as it did. ...it’s hard to be sure without seeing the rig," said a clearly disappointed Humphreys. He expects to arrive in Brest Brest #brest Friday evening. An untimely end to his first, single-handed transatlantic race

Thomas Coville on Sodebo, who was in the top of the 60-foot trimarans, has left the race track due to structural problems on the beams and is on his way to Lisbon in Portugal. "We have been experiencing crazily strong waves for several days, there are no words to describe the conditions. When they hit the boat, Sodebo was thrown sideways by several metres" explained Coville this morning. "These incredibly violent waves have damaged the under part of the exterior coating of the forebeam of the boat. I am forced to bear away to relieve the boat. The starboard forebeam has been considerably weakened by a hole of about 50 centimetres on the side where the exterior coating is delaminating," said the tired skipper who once again had not slept during the night.

Marc Guillemot on Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm is in first position hurtling along towards Sao Miguel (Azores) for a rapid pitstop in order to change the foresails. Franck Cammas (Groupama) is lending him his solent. 4 miles behind, on the 1500 GMT position report, the Swiss Stève Ravussin on Technomarine is eating away at the miles in more than 20 knots of speed. He has gained 9 miles in the last four hours (1100-1500GMT).

Michel Desjoyeaux on Géant has lost his starboard foil Foil #foil and the rudder blade. He is afraid the float might take on water and will head to Madeira for a short pit stop. Lalou Roucayrol’s Banque Populaire has broken the back stay runner, but will try and repair without stopping.

Loïck Peyron was picked up by the Panama-bound Russian freighter San Maria at around 0830 GMT. The skipper of Fujifilm will be dropped off at Punta Delgada in the Azores. The freighter passed Yvan Bourgnon on his overturned Rexona Men, who is staying on his boat. A towboat will reach Rexona Men tomorrow morning. The skipper is wet and cold but holding on. Francis Joyon (Eure & Loir-Lorenove), has spent three days on his overturned boat and was close to hypothermia. He was picked up by a trawler. The boat will hopefully be salvaged at the latest tomorrow, as well as Sopra Group and Fujifilm.

Jean-Luc Nélias Belgacom and Jean Le Cam Bonduelle will leave port later tonight and head back into the throes of the race. Frédéric La Peutrec Bayer CropSciences is due to leave port before tomorrow morning (the competitors are allowed to have a maximum of two stop-overs each of 72 hours at most).

 Ellen MacArthur Kingfisher (1st IMOCA Imoca #IMOCA 60’ monohull) e-mail : "Feel much happier this morning, have managed to get a couple of good hours sleep, real recuperative sleep. ... the breeze is really kicking in, it’s been down at 25 sometimes, but the squalls are really violent, the sea is so white when they hit, and the sea state is very messed up. I have no idea how the boat can handle this. It’s hard to accept that on the surfs we are touching 20 knots sometimes in these conditions."

 Mirand Merron UUDS (6th IMOCA 60’ monohull) "The squalls are harsh, they come with hail - I have ice bits all over the cockpit !"

 Thomas Coville Sodebo (ORMA 60’ multihull) "Hoisting the mainsail on your own when it is more than 180 metres square in a similar sea state to those that we had before is backbreaking".

 Claude Thélier Arhipel Gualdeloupe (4th class 2 multihull) "I must say - It’s magic, it’s grandiose these great waves and the strong wind. Absolutely magnificent."

 Michel Desjoyeaux Geant (ORMA 60’ multihull). " It’s not going too bad, I still have a mast and three hulls. There are those worse than me at the moment. Otherwise, I have had my fair share of worries. I have lost my starboard foil Foil #foil which has slipped into its casing pulling out the rudder blade on the way. I do have an emergency rudder blade but to go to the end of the float to try to repair it doesn’t really appeal. I’m definitely going to make a pit-stop in Madeira."