The forecast storm which caused the delay of the third leg of the Velux 5 Oceans Race arrived last night with winds in excess of 35 knots. Virginia is still on Tornado Watch and has issued a Gale Warning. Today does not look any brighter, with winds between 25 to 30 knots, gusting 45 knots, and holding through until Tuesday. Race organisers and the skippers will continue to meet every 12 hours with weather experts to assess the situation.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston commenting this morning on the conditions said: “?the weather here in Norfolk, Virginia, is appalling. Forty-fifty knots of wind are something we sailors got used to in the Southern Ocean, and worse in the hurricane in the Bay of Biscay at the start of the race, but that’s not the point. In order to start us start boats have to go out in those conditions and people be transferred between them and it would have been dangerous so we are waiting for this system to pass through. We might get away on Tuesday and if not then, Wednesday.”

Meanwhile Graham Dalton on A Southern Man-AGD, who was delayed by a string of misfortunes in Brazil see news story here, is continuing to head north but with still over 900 miles to go to reach the finish of Leg 2 and the 19 April deadline fast approaching, Dalton’s chances of completing the race are looking fairly slim.