Sailing: Dalton and Shoebridge vie for early lead

After a bit of pushing and shoving, Grant Dalton in Amer Sports One and his former lieutenant Kevin Shoebridge, in Tyco, held a joint lead in a fast start to the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Sydney yesterday.

In contrast to four years ago, blue skies and unbroken sunshine were accompanied by a brisk westerly breeze and the lead was changing every few hundred yards of an opening three-mile upwind hitch to a gate and turning mark.

There was nothing to separate the next three – Knut Frostad's djuice, the first leg winner John Kostecki in illbruck and Jez Fanstone in News Corp – while two miles further astern were Gunner Krantz, in SEB, and Lisa McDonald, in Amer Sports Too. But Assa Abloy's problems continued as the new skipper, Neal McDonald, saw an immediate five-mile gap open up.

That provided a platform for what will be a hard and determined charge south to the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties winds that constantly circle Antarctica and make for the exciting, but demanding, downwind sleigh ride conditions for most of the 6,500 miles.

Less happy yesterday was Mike Golding, who, with partner Marcus Hutchinson, had slipped to sixth in the Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre to Bahia Salvador, Brazil. One week down and with 2,400 miles to go, his Open 60 Ecover was 140 miles behind the leader and favourite, Roland Jourdain. He was also struggling with electrical problems which have affected his computer and vital weather planning as he approaches the Doldrums.

But in the other two classes Ellen MacArthur, co-skippering Alain Gautier in Foncia, continues to lead the 60ft trimarans and Alex Bennett, although pegged back some, leads the Open 50s with Paul Larsen.