This morning the reason for Bilou’s (Roland Jourdain) slippage in the 60ft monohull class became apparent. He contacted the race committee to say that his mainsail has been badly torn and that he is heading to Madeira to make a stop and either repair the sail or replace it. He still has 400 miles to go to Madeira.

This puts him out of the running for 1st place in the class and shortens the odds of a victory by Ellen MacArthur or Mike Golding, currently 1st and 2nd.