Bernard Stamm on ‘Cheminees Poujoulet’ on a very Southerly course, is leading the race 1000 miles ahead of his nearest rival Kojiro Shiraishi skipper of ‘Spirit of Yukoh’. Kojiro had almost no wind on Monday night and spent most of the time hand steering. Ahead of him is a high pressure block. Meanwhile the next three competitors are a further 1000 miles behind him.

Unai Basurko on ‘Pakea’ recently overtook Graham Dalton skipper of ‘A Southern Man AGD’. Dalton is now back on the water after a 50 hour stop-over in Bluff, New Zealand and he was recorded a short while ago as 150 mile North of Basurko. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on ‘Saga Insurance’ is up there too.

Sir Robin had a hard Monday night. In a gale he lost one of his SOLUS life rafts. His Fleet 77 satcom is not functioning and he is compelled to use the Iridium handheld for weather updates. Now, a further gale is looming ahead. More details can be found at www.velux5oceans.com