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Nursing Christmas Day hangovers, the fleet set off on Boxing Day for another savage dogfight in hostile waters. There was little control over the mass of spectator boats in Auckland harbour and things became chaotic.

“While it was marvellous to have such a send off, once the start gun goes, one no longer thinks about anything but racing and spectator craft, although they showed the interest of the Aucklanders, were suddenly a bloody nuisance,” one skipper wrote afterwards.

Crews celebrated New Year with ‘ice cake, champagne and lots of laughs’ though soon after, things turned nasty as the wind got up. According to the log of 33 Export, it was blowing around 45 knots, when there was a ‘tremendous bang.’

“The boat was thrown on its side in fact she may even have turned right over. Rapidly we recovered ourselves but what a sight.”

All the contents of the chart table - chart, pencils, notebooks and navigation books, barometer - had emptied into the toilet. There were spanners, files and screwdrivers embedded in the deckhead of the galley, floorboards had come adrift, tins of food were everywhere and battery boxes had smashed the floor of the saloon. They worked out the boat must have rolled 140 degrees.

On other boats, the severity of the storm forced helmsmen to wear goggles and on Adventure, they had to start pumping when water came flooding in below deck, though with all the slamming and lurching, it took them four days to work out that it was coming through two cracks in the hull.

“Although the condition never became critical it was very worrying not knowing how far the problem would deteriorate,” reported skipper Ian Bailey-Willmott. Even more worrying when they realised they were thousands of miles from the nearest port and heading straight into the turbulent Southern Ocean. But they carried on pumping and bravely kept on racing.

Growing concern among families and friends of the crews persuaded organisers to set up a race control office in Portsmouth, so that information was available round the clock. Volunteers logged the latest reports and positions on a chart and answered the phones, or set up recorded up-to-date messages. This innovation was widely welcomed by both the media and race followers who were discovering just how compelling a round the world yacht race could be, especially with the spectre of Cape Horn looming with grim inevitability.

A row broke out over the airwaves when it was found that Pen Duick VI was, after all, ineligible though by the time, the news reached Tabarly, the word ‘ineligible’ had been replaced by ‘disqualified’ which created confusion among the fleet and an almighty rumpus in the French media who thought their national hero had been unfairly treated by the race committee.

Back on the water, GBII was first round the Cape, having had some close skirmishes with icebergs and growlers on the approach. Flyer was next, rounding in a blinding snowstorm and by 18 January, most of the fleet was safely around the Horn and heading for Rio.

The drama continued when the limelight-hogging 33 Export suddenly broached while running under spinnaker in the South Atlantic. Water surged across her decks, slamming crewman Eric Letrosne against life-rails with such force it fractured his leg. It was an ugly break and needed urgent attention so when the call for medical help went out, Dr Jean Louis Sabarly on Japy-Hermes reported that they were closing in on the injured party and were preparing for a rendezvous. When a huge swell prevented a transfer, the heroic Dr. Sarbarly jumped into the sea and swam to 33 Export, where he was dragged aboard and where he remained, looking after his patient until the boat arrived in Rio Grande and a transfer to hospital in Rio de Janeiro was completed. This bravery later earned Sabarly the trophy for outstanding seamanship, presented by the Shipwrecked Mariners Society.

On 28 January, GBII crossed the line in Rio just a half-hour ahead of Heath's Condor. On corrected time, Gauloises II won the leg and Flyer was second. They had all been pipped to the post by Tabarly on Pen Duick VI who arrived in Rio first by several days, but as everyone knew by then, she was ineligible for honours. The committee invited him to carry on to Portsmouth and although he at first declined he later changed his mind and nipped over the start line after the official starting procedure had been completed.