Sailing: Dalton's last-dash dilemma

THE moody English Channel promises to settle the fate of a few reputations on the last leg of the Whitbread Round the World Race, which starts from here this afternoon.

Every scrap of weather information and tidal knowledge has been harvested as navigators prepared for a wet start to the 450-mile sprint from this historic French port to Southampton.

A light and fickle weather system is forecast, which is just what the crews and the organisers hoping for a midday finish on the Solent on Sunday could do without.

In between a rock and a hard place is the third-placed Grant Dalton, whose Merit Cup is just 10 points ahead of George Collins' Chessie Racing. Every place on this leg is worth 10 points. Dalton would like to be chasing Gunnar Krantz, second in Swedish Match by 36 points. Instead, he must look over his shoulder not just at Chessie, but at Britain's Lawrie Smith, who is in a predatory mood on the shark-emblazoned Silk Cut.

Smith is 33 points behind Dalton and 23 behind Chessie, but has his eye firmly fixed on a top three place. His navigator, Vincent Geake, and weather expert, David Houghton, have been hunched over computers from breakfast onwards for the last three days.

Paul Cayard has the winner's trophy already in bag for EF Language, but few would begrudge him a fourth leg win out of nine.