The Volvo Ocean Race is nearing the finish of leg seven from New York to Portsmouth and the leaders, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson), have broken through the 750 nautical mile mark in the fresh south westerly winds that continue to push the fleet towards the finish.

Sanderson’s crew has covered 507 nautical miles during the last 24-hour period and Ericsson (Neal McDonald) is pushing the Dutch boat hard, but sailing fractionally slower. While ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) has 496 miles to the scoring gate at the Lizard, on the south west tip of the UK, the battle for second place is as hot as ever. Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) are holding onto third position from Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) who is 22 miles behind, but Brasil 1 has the edge on speed.

Movistar (Bouwe Bekking) have a big repair job on their hands, as they ripped their mainsail right across, five metres from the top of the mast, during a gybe yesterday.

The weather forecasts are predicting some interesting challenges before this leg comes to an end and it is likely that the breeze will ease as the fleet approaches the finish and therefore slow the leaders briefly and delay their arrival in to Portsmouth. The easing of the breeze will only be temporary and the longer the light air lingers over the leaders, the better the chances are for the trailing teams to make up some ground.

Light winds near land always make for more complicated sailing, as what winds there are, shift and accelerate around any headlands. The latest weather model is showing that the light patch of breeze will not be enough to slow down the leaders down for very long and the lingering uncertainty as to the approaching low pressure will keep the navigators rethinking their strategy right up until the boats are tied up in Portsmouth.

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