The frustrations over the past week when fickle winds in the Roaring Forties cost them 1,000 miles on their closest rival Warta Polpharma, are now light years away as they storm towards Cape Horn. “We are pushing the boat and ourselves as hard as possible,” said Bullimore early today. “We have a daily target of 320 miles to hit in order to finish back in Marseilles within the deadline and need to bank as many miles as possible when the conditions are like this.”

With two 400-mile days under their belt since leaving the calms on Sunday, they have already built up a 188-mile credit. “If we can keep going like this, we expect to round the Horn in 4-5 days (Saturday or Sunday) and can then concentrate on eating into Warta Polpharma ‘s lead,” Tony confirmed.

Leading positions at 03:00 GMT today and distance to run

1. Club Med – Finished Marseilles 19:56GMT 4.03.01

2. Innovation Explorer 131 miles

3. Team Adventure 5,256 miles

4. Warta Polpharma 6,010 miles

5. Team Legato 8,746 miles

6. PlayStation – Retired 14.01.01