Sailing: MacArthur retires from race after cutting leg

Ellen MacArthur has suffered a cut on her shin from a knife in an accident during a manoeuvre on the catamaran she was sailing with the Australian Nick Moloney on the second day of the Archipelago Raid race in Sweden.

Racing several more hours overnight caused her leg to swell with increasing pain. The cut, which is quite deep, is proving too painful to put pressure on the leg, and using a balancing trapeze harness to lean out over the side while racing became impossible. During the one-hour pit stop in Sandhamn yesterday morning, MacArthur and Moloney decided not to continue racing on the 18-foot catamaran Omega.

MacArthur said: "It was a really stupid accident as it just happened as I lent over the boat and a sharp knife in the tool bag pierced my leg - it managed to cut through the tool bag and two layers of offshore gear before it even reached my leg.

"It did not seem serious at the time so we carried on and we had a good night of fast racing under gennaker but eventually my leg started to throb and I cannot put any pressure on it."

Elsewhere, the husband and wife team, Neal and Lisa McDonald, on Assa Abloy reported problems with their satellite navigation system, a crucial tool for successful navigation, and they are lying eighth of the 14 starters.