Sailing: MacArthur in mast trouble

The British yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur lost 14 miles to her closest rival, Ecover, in four hours of the seventh day of the Route du Rhum race from France to Guadeloupe, but got Kingfisher back on track as the frontrunners passed the Azores.

Kingfisher and Ecover were putting on an impressive show yesterday, battling it out south-east of the islands far ahead of their opponents.

MacArthur gained miles steadily and managed a 15- mile lead on Mike Golding in Ecover, but then discovered that the runner holding up Kingfisher's mast had almost failed.

"The pin that the runner attaches to on the stern was almost out, just hanging on by 3mm," MacArthur said. "One more wave and it would have come out. Bang. End of story. Lucky I saw it I guess. Unreal."

Kingfisher was also not responding to the autopilot and the helm was shaking, but again MacArthur managed to put the boat right.