The British duo, Kingfisher and Ecover, are putting on an impressive show, battling it out southeast of the Azores, neck and neck again, far ahead of their opponents. Ellen MacArthur on Kingfisher gained miles steadily and managed to get a 15 miles lead on Mike Golding at midday today. That was before her problems started. Kingfisher was near disaster when Ellen realised that the runner holding the mast up almost failed. : "The pin that the runner attaches to on the stern was almost out, just hanging on by 3mm...one more wave it would have come out. bang. end of story. Lucky I saw it I guess. Unreal."

The drama was not over. Later on the top of the mast was showing signs of an inversion. Next to that the boat was not responding to the autopilot and the helm was highly loaded and shaking. Ellen stopped Kingfisher and reversed the boat using the mainsail, which freed the problem, although she had to gybe away southeast in order to retune the backstay. She has now re-gybed and is back in 100 percent race mode. Ellen caught sight of Ecover just one mile behind. "Merde ! How to lose 15 miles in one position report....I’ll have to hand steer to attack again..." was Ellen MacArthur’s response, who once again is giving an outstanding performance. 

Mike Golding on Ecover was of course pleased but surprised when he suddenly had Kingfisher in sight again : "I can see Ellen now, and I’m pleased to be back in it. I was quite shocked when I saw Ellen because it has been so tough over the last few days. Dealing with these problems is all part of the race. Looks like Ellen and I are restarting the race in the middle of the Atlantic," said Golding who has two tares in his mainsail, which he has tried to repair as much as possible. At 16.45 GMT Ecover called in and reported he was just ahead of his close rival !

The frontrunners are finally experiencing more moderate conditions, with a wind of 20-25 knots from the northwest, but veering to the north. One reef has been taken out, and it will soon be time to let go of one more and get some bigger sails up at front. Tomorrow the wind is likely to drop to 15-20 knots, and might veer northeast, meaning straight from behind, which could require the boats to gybe to avoid the high pressure system in the west. The challenge for the competitors will be to estimate how close they can skirt the anticyclone.

Nick Moloney on Ashfield Healthcare is further behind his Anglophone mates, still experiencing quite rough conditions, but full of enthusiasm with his great progress in the race. This morning he said, "I am looking forward to the wind dropping to maybe 35-40 knots (!). Then I can sail fast again."  

Swiss swooshes into the lead

Swiss Stève Ravussin on the 60-foot trimaran TechnoMarine is fired up leading the fleet towards warmer latitudes. TechnoMarine is going very well, and got out of the storms without any damage. "The boat is spot on," said the eternally enthusiastic Swiss, who is looking forward to getting his gennaker out in the lighter conditions to come.

The first days’ extreme weather conditions in the Route du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum have had brutal consequences on the 60-foot ORMA trimarans. Last night’s victims : Foncia and Sergio Tacchini, both hit by vicious waves, which caused damage on Foncia’s beam, and dramatic float breakage and dismasting for Sergio Tacchini. Sergio Tacchini’s skipper Karine Fauconnier was devastated. "Since Fujifilm’s incident I was really taking it easy. I was not racing just being really careful till the conditions would get better. I can just conclude that in 45 knots of wind from the side in a high sea - it just does not work," said the sole female skipper of the trimaran fleet with a breaking voice. Karine will abandon her boat and rescue is on its way.

Only 5 out of 18 of the ORMA trimarans are still in the race. Four have capsized, three dismasted and three suffered structural damage. Three skippers decided not to continue.Today : Belgacom Jean Luc Nélias stayed in port, and Bayer CropScience (Frédéric Le Peutrec), the sister-ship of Fujifilm and Sergio Tacchini, turned back to port shortly after leaving, following the advice of the architect Nigel Irens.

 Mike Golding Ecover (2^nd 60-foot IMOCA Imoca #IMOCA monohull) : "No matter how bad my day is you will always know that someone else out there is having a worse day. Anybody that says the Route du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum is a walk in the park compared to the Vendee is wrong. This is as tough as it gets."

 Stève Ravussin TechnoMarine (1st 60-foot ORMA trimaran) : "We are in the single-handed Route du Rhum nevertheless and we are here to win ! I am on autopilot, sailing at 20 knots under two reefs and ORC, the barometer is climbing. I will soon be in the anticyclone. I am freewheeling, but I am heading down so it’s going well"