Toshiba holds narrow lead

DRUGS IN SPORT

Paul Standbridge's Toshiba was holding off Chessie Racing as the Whitbread Round the World Race fleet continued to make slow progress south yesterday.

The fifth leg, which started from Auckland on Saturday, has failed to get the nine boats off to a flier on the 6,670-mile run to Brazil.

The fleet, which has now passed the Chatham Islands, has now effectively split into two groups, with the six most westerly boats all within nine miles of each other from front to back and 10 miles west to east.

The all-female EF Education averaged the fastest speed of the morning with 11.2 knots.