It’s been a pretty straightforward race for Kingfisher so far. She got out of the blocks well and steamed right down the Great Circle rhumb line towards St Malo.

Whether she missed the potential in the south or opted to play the percentages is irrelevant, but she stayed firmly on the rhumb line – until now.

Kingfisher’s opening strategic gambit could well have been forced on her by the charging Ecover. As the breeze has veered slowly during the day, Golding has gybed round into the north, back to the Great Cricle route, and Kingfisher has followed.

Sill, Fila. Gartmore and AlphaGraphics are all heading just wouth of east, following the veering wind, but we can expect them to gybe back before they become embroiled in the calms of the North Atlantic high pressure system.

For a while, Kingfisher was blazing along at record speed but as soon as Nick Moloney notified Race HQ of their attempt, “the breeze lifted and decreased.

“With such lulls in the wind strength we continue eagerly to await the position of the rest of the fleet. With Fila, Sill and Ecover all within 15 miles, we simply cannot afford slow patches in order to maintain our lead.”