Baltimore to La Rochelle

Heading out into the ocean again, skippers were distinctly nervous as they realised how one small tactical error could make or break their chances. Before they made their break into the favourable Gulf Stream, they had to negotiate Chesapeake Bay, famous as one of the most demanding obstacle courses in the world with the flood tide, shallows, fish traps and crab pots all contriving to slow the boats down stop them in their tracks.

They emerged without incident and by the third day, Kostecki had worked his way to the front and was ploughing through the waters like an express train. Powered by 25-30 knots of winds, they realised they were in with a chance of setting a new record and 24-hours later, they had it in the bag. A massive 484 nautical miles.

“When we saw that we had a 127 nm run in six hours we then started to do the math and realized we had a good shot at breaking the record,” said Kostecki, who was chuffed to bits. “We did not try to break the record either. It just happened. Our goal is to win a podium finish on leg seven, so we are fully focused on the goal at hand and not breaking records. We broke the record by pushing the boat hard in favourable conditions.”

While the boys on illbruck were celebrating their good fortune, the unlucky girls on Amer Sports Too were facing total wipe out.

Just over 400 nm from the coast of Canada, they heard a loud bang and watched the mast topple over, just above the second spreaders. It left just 10m of the structure still standing. Fortunately no one was injured and the yacht was not in danger. The girls recovered the rig and sails and lashed the mast to the deck.

"We're all gutted, everyone wants to do well, and we had high expectations for this leg," said Lisa McDonald, in some distress.

They headed to Halifax in Nova Scotia, where the boat was to be transported back to the UK to be repaired before the start of the eighth leg from La Rochelle to Gothenburg.

But it was a race against time as the weather closed in and gales made the job of picking up a tow from tug Edward Cornwallis a perilous affair which, the girls said later, was far more frightening than the dismasting.

Shoreside, the phone wires were buzzing as representatives from Nautor Challenge, managers of both the Amer Sports boats, made arrangements for repairs and transport so the boat could be on the La Rochelle start.

There was flu on illbruck, yet they continued to blaze a trail. The Code zero sail blew out on Djuice and flew away and Tyco lost two reaching spinnakers which deprived them of some vital pace in the closing stages. While the result was inevitable early on….another win for the Germans, there was a riveting battle for second as McDonald and Shoebridge played cat and mouse all the way to the finish line.

It was McDonald on ASSA ABLOY who came out on top and while he was fairly happy, he would have been happier with an out and out win “We would have liked have been coming in here first, but we couldn't quite manage that. illbruck sailed a faultless race. They had speed and they got the better of us, so we haven't made it easy for ourselves, but we are going to keep fighting to the end. We need a bit of luck on our side, and a bit of bad luck for illbruck, but other than that we will just have to take it as it comes.”

ASSA ABLOY were eight points behind illbruck but with 16 points still up for grabs from the two remaining legs, there were still a chance of pulling a rabbit out of the hat.

Seeing illbruck perform at such high levels, when most the crew were stricken with flu, must have been depressing for the other crews.

Amer Sports Too left Halifax on a ship for Europe, giving Lisa McDonald's crew ten days to step a new mast and prepare for the start of leg 8. Against all the odds, they completed the repairs in Gosport and sailed for La Rochelle, but the wheel of fortune continued to spin resolutely against them.

"We're battling Mother Nature at the moment." explained Lisa, as she and her crew sailed towards France. "There's a big storm looming off Ireland and we are hoping to get around the corner of Ushant before that storm comes through late on Monday."

When they arrived in La Rochelle, having been battered by storms, they were given a rapturous welcome, as fellow crews and the public turned out to acknowledge their bravery and gutsy determination.