Dalton's thrilling battle

A 1,000-mile fight to the finish was in prospect yesterday as Grant Dalton, in Amer Sports One, and John Kostecki, in illbruck, broke away from all their rivals on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Despite notching up a race best so far of 369 miles in 24 hours, Kostecki still had the frustration of seeing Dalton also speed up in the last six hours and extend his lead to 25 miles.

The fleet of eight yachts is scattered over 850 miles. The trailing trio of Gunnar Krantz (SEB), Knut Frostad (djuice), and Lisa McDonald (Amer Sports Too) face further delays in light airs, dwindling food supplies, and a greatly reduced turnaround time in Cape Town before setting out on 11 November for the second leg through the fearsome Southern Ocean.