The toll of disasters in the Route du Rhum is still mounting. At 0700GMT this morning Jean-Pierre Dick, the most promising newcomer in the Open 60 class sailing Virbac (formerly Michel Desjoyeaux’s potent Vendée winner PRB), was dismasted. He is 200 miles from La Coruña.

A distress message from Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher last night happily turned out to be a false alarm.

Lionel Lemonchois and Gitana X have safely reached base at La Trinité. “I’m somewhat shaken,” he said. “This is not what I had planned. But these boats are quite fragile, rather hard to handle. It would be a good thing to know why the mast broke…”

More news to come – we suspect!