Sailing: Goss finds way home

With Josh Hall safely in Newport in second place with his 60-foot monohull Gartmore Investments, Britain was set for another second in the Europe 1 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race last night as Pete Goss coaxed his 50- footer, Aqua Quorum, though the mists to the finish last night.

Goss, a 34-year-old former Royal Marine, has had to cope with a knock- down which broke the battens in his mainsail, a wrecked spinnaker, and the contamination of most of his food by a seawater leak. Ever cheerful, he regards the 2,810-mile trip from Plymouth as ideal preparation for the Vendee Globe Singlehanded Non-stop Round the World which starts in November.

However, he failed to beat the 60-footers, won by Gerry Roufs in Groupe LG2, and was well behind the victorious 50-footer, Telecom Italia, in which Giovanni Soldini knocked one day 22hr 54min off the record to set a new 50-foot monohull time of 15days 18hr 29min.

EF Education's all-woman crew, skippered by Mikaela von Koskull, beat their Swedish male counterparts, skippered by Magnus Olsson in the absence of Lawrie Smith, by one hour to win on handicap the 490-mile Round Gotland Race, both in 1993 Whitbread 60s.