Sailing: Fish batters Krantz's ear

AFTER the perils of the Southern Ocean comes a new danger for the crews in the Whitbread Round the World Race - flying fish.

Gunnar Krantz, the skipper of Swedish Match, was left with earache after a close encounter with airborne marine life on day 11 of the sixth leg from Brazil to Florida. "Luckily, I had just put my hood up when the fish banged into my ear," Krantz said. "It was pretty violent crash. I could hear the bells long afterwards."

The leg leader, EF Language, has also had problems with the masses of flying fish the fleet is encountering as it approaches the turning point of the island of Barbuda. "They get scooped up in the water that ends up on the deck and get in our sail bags, sheet bags etc," the skipper, Paul Cayard, reported.

Cayard has now stretched his lead over Britain's Silk Cut to more than 20 miles.

WHITBREAD ROUND THE WORLD RACE (sixth leg, 4,750 miles, Sao Sebastiao, Bra, to Fort Lauderdale, US): 1 EF Language (Swe) P Cayard 1,755.7 miles to finish; 2 Silk Cut (GB) L Smith 20.9 miles behind leader; 3 Innovation Kvaerner (Nor) K Frostad +43.6;4 Swedish Match (Swe) G Krantz +44; 5 Merit Cup (Monaco) G Dalton +55.6; 6 Chessie Racing (US) J Kostecki +84.5; 7 Toshiba (US) P Standbridge +102.3; 8 Brunel Sunergy (Neth) R Heiner +127.1; 9 EF Education (Swe) C Guillou +171.8.