While the revellers who enjoyed the arrival of Steve White contemplate the typical ‘day after the night before’ effects, three skippers are still on course and making steady progress.

For a skipper who had been at sea for 109 days White prevailed well into the evening, his capacity for porridge and golden syrup replaced by a steady thirst for another golden liquid, enjoying the low key attention and spending time with all the well wishers who were keen to meet the eighth place finisher.
On target for a great ninth place Rich Wilson is trying to make his way round the labyrinthine weather pattern, one which a couple of days ago had the Great American III 400 miles closer to his home in Boston than he was to the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne and nearly 500 miles west of the mean course taken by earlier finishers.

There have been some drastic deficit cuts on this leg and chief among those wielding the axe are Bouwe Bekking's men on Telefonica Blue.

Granted they have been provided with insurance cover by the Doldrums compression, and there is the small matter of a leverage disadvantage as the fleet approach Fiji, but don’t let the small print get in the way of a stunning comeback – on the leaderboard at least.

The facts are that the Blue boat set off 189 miles after the fleet in Qingdao and had fallen as far adrift as 300 miles to the leaders.

As expected in the Doldrums, the mood swings of conditions overhead are the big talking point on board. There has been a deluge of emails peppered with chatter about rain and clouds. And more clouds.

With the fleet continuing to compress, there is something of the global credit crunch to the profits and losses on the leaderboard. Rescue packages – in the shape of squalls – are going to be the determining factor for a while yet.

PUMA’s Ken Read summed it up nicely when talking of the shoe boat’s predicament relative to its closest rival Ericsson 3. The pair have been trading miles for three days now. By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, PUMA led by just two.

A new incentive aimed at encouraging customers to upgrade their existing two-stroke Jet RIBs with the equivalent four stroke models has been launched by Avon Inflatables Ltd, the UK distributor for the Avon and Zodiac brands. The 'New for Old' promotion applies to both Avon and Zodiac two-stroke Jet RIBs and is being implemented via Avon and Zodiac authorized dealers throughout the UK.

A substantial guaranteed minimum trade in value of £3,000 plus VAT is being offered to customers in addition to the part exchange trade in value offered by the dealer on all two-stroke Jet RIBs upgraded to their four-stroke equivalent.

A British couple who, between them, have sailed the Atlantic Ocean a total of 11 times, have been saved from the middle of that same ocean by an Italian tanker after spending 40 days disabled and drifting.

Stuart Armstrong, 51, and his partner Andrea Davison, 48, are on board supertanker Indian Point and heading back to Amsterdam.

Although they escaped unhurt, they were tired, exhausted and grateful to be heading home after their six-week ordeal.