Conrad Humphreys has recovered his position after a forced stop

Mr Humphreys, 31, overtook French sailor Anne Liardet on Monday as he recovered his position after being forced to stop and make repairs.

His yacht, Hellomoto, damaged a rudder when it hit an unidentified submerged object 300 miles (482km) off Cape Town.

He was forced to anchor for nearly two days while he replaced the rudder, falling to last in the 16-boat pack.

Mr Humphreys is now fighting off the cold as he sails south of Tasmania with a broken on-board generator.

He said: "It gets very, very cold when the wind switches to the south-west and the wind's blowing straight off Antarctica.

"At the moment it's not too bad, it's probably about 3 or 4 C outside and about the same inside the cabin."