Mike Golding has broken his main halyard again. He’s still in second place – 33 miles behind Vincent Riou but it seems the repair job is going to be a bit more tricky than the last time.

Chatting from the boat Golding had this to say: “At around 0800 this morning I broke my mainsail halyard again which means that I’m no longer sailing under mainsail. I considered going up the mast straight away and flooded the ballasts but it was too rough to go up. The seas remain messy.

“This time the halyard broke further down. It was part of the halyard that I replaced on Monday so it wasn’t brand-new and wasn’t in good condition. I will replace the broken halyard with the original Vendée Globe one which is good and new.

“That wasn’t an option last time around. Unfortunately the manoeuvre may take more time as I have no mouse in the mast now. I don’t know when the seas are going to calm to enable me to make repairs.

“For now though I’m making reasonable speed under headsail and minimising the loss. Obviously I feel pretty frustrated and it doesn’t seem terribly fair. Sailing is a very cruel sport at times and I’m going to have to be prepared to lose some ground first.

“The Vendée Globe is providing me with all the things I hate doing – I hate climbing the mast and certainly don’t need to gain anymore experience with that (laughs!). At the time of the incident I had 25 knots of breeze and very bumpy seas. That’s ok when you’re fully powered but now it’s slamming violently as I’m under-powered. Fortunately I do have a little sunshine…”