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Days and days of savage headwinds saw a decisive contest between maxi and W60 and it was the latter that came off best in terms of performance, though the relentless push for speed turned the Atlantic shores, north and south, into a giant boat repair yard. Dolphin & Youth headed for Rio when the bow on the leeward side of the boat began to flex dangerously through delamination, but Dalton decided to make repairs at sea when the same thing happened on New Zealand Endeavour. The bunks were dismantled and used to brace the delaminated portion of the bow. The crew on La Poste were similarly resourceful when their bow started to delaminate and they too carried on.

Chris Dickson was down below when Tokio ran into problems too, but the sequence of sounds and motion were very familiar and he knew in an instant that the mast had gone. When he peered out, he could see it dragging in the water, taking with it any hopes he had of winning the race. Not one to dwell on misfortune, he called the crew to collect the pieces and jury-rig a sail, then headed for the nearby port of Santos, Brazil. Despite the setback, they showed remarkable fortitude in constructing a new mast from the wreckage in 36 hours and returning once more to the race track.

It was an awesome effort, but it left the way clear for Intrum and Yamaha to steal a march. Ross Field had recruited a meteorologist for this leg to act as a full on wind-seeker and this attention to detail paid dividends as Yamaha stayed in decent breezes while Intrum stopped dead in the Doldrums. Yamaha crossed the finish line in Ft. Lauderdale first, seizing the class lead from Tokio and in the maxi class, Merit Cup posted a win while Dalton was plunged into a delamination depression.