Sailing: Fry-up helps Open 60 Ecover to catch up after gales

The carnage of the previous 24 hours, during which gales and heavy seas had caused three of the multihulls to capsize and the retirement of a fourth, were behind them as they sped under full sail and spinnaker south past the north-west corner of Spain towards the Azores.

One of those rescued, Ireland's Damian Foxall, also had some good news that his collarbone had not broken and that the heavy internal bruising should heal in time for him to join the Brasil 1 team for the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Melbourne in January.

Golding still had a 17-mile deficit to make up on the leaders, Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron, but was just five miles down on the second-placed Ellen MacArthur, who is doing the double-handed race with Roland Jourdain.

Also introducing a Gallic co-skipper to the joys of English tastes, Miranda Merron was able to enjoysome Earl Grey with Anne Liardet as, after a busy schedule of repairs, they moved up to seventh. This because Bernard Stamm and Yann Eliès were going into Vigo to repair a damaged dagger board.