Telefonica Blue looks to reduce Ericsson 4's 65-mile lead

With a second leg win in sight and just a few miles to the finish in Kochi, south-west India, Ericsson 4's Brazilian skipper Torben Grael was looking over his shoulder yesterday as Bouwe Bekking in Telefonica Blue threw everything into making up what had been a 65-mile deficit at the end of the 4,450-mile run from Cape Town in the Volvo Race.

There was also a four-way tussle for third, with Ericsson 3 still in the controlling position and just seven miles separating Ian Walker's Green Dragon, Roberto Bermudez in Delta Lloyd and Kenny read in Puma.

Just as tight was the lead of the Vendée Globe, where 10 miles covered the top seven skirting the south Atlantic high pressure zone. Back into the lead was Sébastien Josse as previous leader Loick Peyron first slipped to seventh and recovered to fourth. Top Brit Mike Golding is in touch at ninth, with a 35-mile deficit. Brian Thompson is 11th, Sam Davies 13th, Dee Caffari 15th, Steve White 17th, and Jonny Malbon 18th.