American businessman, Kip Stone, sailing his Owen-Clarke-designed Open 50, Artforms, in the Transat made contact with his shore team for the first time since the start, shortly before 0900 GMT yesterday morning, and described conditions as grey but clearing with a steady 20-knot breeze. He said he’d just woken up from a “nice little snooze” after a long night. “Things are settling down. It’s still a little lumpy, although not as bad as a couple of hours ago.” Asked about his next move, he laughed and said “I’m looking forward to getting offshore and away from all this land. There are still too many ships around here.”

In his latest skipper’s log, Stone writes: “By the time I reached Land’s End, there were still four-five boats in sight, but once the sun set, I lost touch with most of the fleet. I had one scare in the middle of the night when a nav light suddenly appeared in front of me – an Open 60 crossing my bow just a few boat lengths ahead. Other than that, it was more of less what you’d expect on a cold, wet night in the English Channel and I kept my focus on just getting around the corner between the Scilly Islands and Land’s End without picking up any of the fishing buoys and staying out of the way of the fishing boats and commercial traffic. Until the sun came up and I could see more than a few miles, my sleep was limited to a few catnaps because I didn’t dare to close my eyes!”