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Overnight the leaders in the Barcelona World Race fleet have hooked into the trade winds and are flying off towards the third scoring gate in the race, at Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil.

But before they get there, they'll have to navigate through the doldrums, the next major obstacle facing the nine teams.

Paprec Virbac 2 has maintained its lead over PRB over the past 24 hours and the two leading boats have doubled their margin over third placed Veolia Environnement, which is still positioned furthest west in the fleet.

It's been a difficult 24 hours for the rest of the fleet however, with everyone dropping significant miles to the leaders. Not only that, there isn't much hope of getting them back until the leading boats are slowed by the doldrums.

"I think it's going to be a bit processional for a few days now unfortunately," said Alex THOMSON on Hugo Boss, currently neck and neck with Tenemos II for sixth and seventh place. "That's just the way it goes. The Cape Verde islands, possibly, or the doldrums, are the next opportunity. But there is still a very long way to go."

Estrella Damm's Jonathan McKEE, now dropped back to eighth place, echoed that sentiment. He said it's been a difficult run since the Canary Islands and the other teams have simply done a better job so far.

One of those is the Spanish due aboard Mutua Madrileña. Javier SANSO and Pachi RIVERO have climbed from eighth to fifth place over the past 24 hours by mimicking the western route of Veolia Environnement. If they can consolidate that position through to the doldrums, it will certainly be an achievement for the pair sailing an older generation boat.

Barcelona World Race - http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org