Most of the yachts look like they have followed Imagine It. Done and Samsung and are now heading back up north. However Me to You together with Team Save the Children look like they have unfinished business down south and have taken a flyer from the rest of the pack. Even VAIO, previously the most southern yacht, has started to climb back up north. The next few hours should be sufficient to tell which way will pay the highest dividend.

The yachts are still in the grip of some pretty foul weather as Cuong TRAN (GBR) aboard 11th place Pindar explained when he talked about the squalls: 'Sometimes they approach without warning in the case of a huge squall that hit us the other night at 0200. We survived somehow, but it took all 18 men and women and a desperate two hours before we could bring the boat back into control as the squall threatened to rip our mast down. There seems to be no end to this appalling weather.'