EDS Atlantic Challenge - Leg 5 Update

ITALIAN INGENUITY

Fila have effected a repair to their mainsail and are sailing hard for France

Four hours after ripping their mainsail from luff to leech, the crew aboard Fila have effected a repair and are still in the lead of the final leg of the EDS Atlantic Challenge. In a satellite phone call this afternoon, skipper Andrea Scarabelli described what they had done.

“We had the sail down for four hours to repair it,” he said. “What we have done is to take some Vectran lines and form a web between the top batten and the headboard car. We cut away the sail that was damaged and now have this new system that seems to be holding very well.” The wind has eased a little and while Scarabelli says that the repaired mainsail looks a bit strange, they are able to sail at almost 100 percent. “I am sure we are a little slower than we were,” he said. “Now the wind has died down a bit we are considering putting up a spinnaker. The waves are still quite big, but we are still in the lead and must push hard. Ecover is catching up.”

Now only six miles behind Fila, the crew on Ecover (Mike Golding) are pushing hard. They have widened their lead on Kingfisher (Nick Moloney) to 15miles and recorded the fastest average speed over the last three hours. Since the 10:40 GMT poll Ecover averaged 16 knots. At the last poll the lead yachts were just over 800 miles from the finish in St Malo and are expected to reach France by August 24. The EDS Atlantic Challenge website www.edsatlanticchallenge.com is an innovative and interactive resource for rankings and breaking news.

Boat Positions:

At 13:40 GMT, on a distance to finish (DTF) reading, the positions were as follows:

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com EDS Atlantic Challenge Page