There are just three yachts left to finish in the Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race with Simon Harwood’s Prima 38, Talisman, within sight of the eastern approaches to the Solent with just 61 miles left to go to the Royal Yacht Squadron line. Penny Pariso’s Murray 41, Predator of Wight, is just off the Dover Straits with 115 miles left to run whilst bringing up the rear is Kieran Jameson’s gutsy crew on the Sigma 38, Changeling, who have the small matter of 140 miles to reach the finish line. Conditions have gone desperately light for the remaining teams who are struggling against the tricky tidal gates of the South Coast praying for the wind to fill in to get them home.

Monday was a busy day for the race organisers with no fewer than five boats finishing at varying times of the day and night. First across the finish line was Phil Sharp’s Pogo 40, needasponsor.co.uk who came out of a very dark morning to cross the line at 0341. Just behind was the hard-driving Puma Logic of Phillippe Falle who finished at 0403 whilst the Mostly Harmless, Prima 38 team of Tom Hayhoe waited until dawn to finally get across the line at 0715. A small gap developed as the tide turned on the Jaguar Logic team of Pete Summers who eventually came home in the late afternoon at 1715 whilst for the ‘Gourmet Chefs’ aboard Clem Jones’s Jeu d’Esprit there was time for one final exquisite supper before they managed to squeak home just before midnight at 2348.

The remaining yachts are expected to finish either late tonight or early on Wednesday morning with the weather looking like producing afternoon sea breezes to replace the mill pond-like conditions they are currently experiencing.

As the race comes to its conclusion the RORC will continue to bring daily updates and position reports from the boats highlighting the highs and lows of this premier coastal yacht race. All yachts competing in the Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race have been fitted with a tracking device developed by the RORC in conjunction with OC Technology. Yacht positions will be updated hourly and can be followed on the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s dedicated micro site accessed via www.rorc.org