It's all kicking-off for 4th place

With 70 miles to the finish, Halvard Mabire on Custo Pol was in unstoppable form: "I'm about to watch the most beautiful sunrise of the entire transatlantic race," he told the race office this morning. "Everything is ready and I'm on my final tack into the finish." At dawn, Custo Pol was ahead of Alex Bennett on Fujifilm in 6th by just 11 miles having overtaken the green, British Class40 late yesterday. "I took the windshift a little better than Fujifilm and have gained a few miles." At the time of the daily satellite calls to the fleet, Bennett's phone was on standby as he clawed back the miles.

However, any suggestion of a processional finish to the race evaporated mid-morning as Groupe Royer slowed to 4 knots in light winds and Custo Pol and Fujifilm moved in for the kill. At 1400GMT this afternoon, Groupe Royer has just 8 miles to the finish with Custo Pol closing in to 7 miles of Louis Duc's Class40 and maintaining 6.6 knots to Duc's 4.8 knots. In 6th place Fujifilm remains 11 miles behind Mabire, matching Custo Pol knot-for-knot. In an email report from Bennett this afternoon, he admits to an exhausting night, adding: "I'm sailing at a good speed on flat seas and into the wind again. It's been great but knackering and I can't quite believe it's coming to an end."

In 7th place, 79 miles east of Fujifilm, Miranda Merron described her last full night at sea: "It is the most stunning starlit night, occasional shooting stars, and lots of distant air traffic, presumably heading for Boston," she wrote earlier. With 106 miles to the finish at 1400GMT this afternoon, the effects of reaching civilisation are becoming apparent: "Have just picked up our first fishing pot, which was easy enough to back down off in 14 knots of wind. They are supposed to show up on radar, but didn't see this one. It is getting light now, so should be easier to avoid." After 19 days of transatlantic racing with the finish line so close, the temptation to relax is almost too much: "It is still very cold," she continues, " and I am longingly eyeing up my sleeping bag, but it would be a disaster - I'd wrap it round my head and end up asleep for twenty four hours." With a possible forecast of SW breeze building from 15-20 knots this evening, Merron will be keen to reach the finish before the wind turns easterly early tomorrow morning, blowing directly offshore from the finish line.

In 8th place, the normally relaxed Benoit Parnaudeau reported that urgent repairs were needed on board Prevoir Vie: "Oh ****! The headboard car of the mainsail has come off of the track," he wrote late last night. "Up with the staysail, down with the mainsail. The mainsail's headboard car has shattered. I'll have to make some quick repairs as it's getting close to sunset. Tomorrow, when it's calmer, I'll make a proper fix." This afternoon, however, with the repairs completed, Parnaudeau was back to normal: "What happiness it is to be at sea, close-hauled on a boat that's in good shape," he reports in an email. "There's the impression that she is flying above the waves," he continued, increasing boatspeed and poetic momentum simultaneously. "It only gets unpleasant when water starts coming over the bow. Curiously, when reaching, the more water there is on deck, the better the speed." Despite sailing undercanvassed overnight, Parnaudeau gained a handful of miles from 40 Degrees as Merron fought with fishing pots in the dark and he now trails her by 21 miles.

The fleet backmarkers, Christophe Coatnoan on Groupe Partouche in 9th and Simon Clarke on Clarke Offshore Racing in 10th are separated by 57 miles and have both experienced technical issues in the last couple of days. Coatnoan has destroyed a headsail and has a leak around the keel, while Clarke has fried his computer: "It blew up yesterday," he explained earlier, "as it doesn't appear to like water." Until he can make repairs, Clarke cannot receive the fleet's position data or emails and has limited access to weather data: "I don't know where the water came from," he explains, mystified by the water damage to his boat's brain. "It was only a tiny drop of water - less than an egg cup. God knows where it came from.off my hand, probably." The satellite phone on Clarke Offshore Racing still functions and Clarke has called his shore-based technician for repair guidance: "He's told me that if I turn it off and on a couple of hundred times, it'll probably start working again."

Clarke has taken a southerly approach to Marblehead and explained his reasons: "The only option I have got is to go south of the rhumb line, but, thank God, I'm now being lifted." Weather files suggest that he may have a good SW breeze for the final 206 miles to the finish, although Clarke is cautious: "The wind should build," he agrees, "but it's just a question of when and from where." After an exceptionally hard race that included a perilous mast climb, the 42 year-old Briton is looking forward to seeing his wife and daughter waiting in Marblehead: "There won't be a massive party as most of my travelling roadshow of mates are at a wedding this weekend." Clarke will be in for a surprise as it is guaranteed that the 10 Class40 solo sailors will be geared-up for a huge celebration when the final boat arrives.