Day Five: Ellen MacArthur is just four miles back

But an hour after leaving port, Banque Populaire suffered another problem and the Frenchman was forced to finally abandon the race.

"We were making good progress," explained Roucayrol.

"It was a difficult sea so we were trying to be extra careful and keep our speed down. Then we heard a noise so we immediately dropped sail and realised we'd have to pull out."

The problem was a crack in the cross-beam attaching the starboard (right) outrigger to the main hull.

Snail's pace

Meanwhile, out in the Azores the wind has died to leave the leaders at near standstill.

Ellen's MacArthur's Foncia has made the best of the airless conditions, cutting the lead of frontrunner Bayer to just four miles.

Despite the narrow distance between the two teams, they are still out of sight due to an eerie haze which has descended on the archipelago.

The pair are hoping to make use of a stronger westerly-south-westerly breeze expected to come through during the night and set them on their way back to mainland Europe.

Third and fourth-placed Groupama and Belgacom, both still in the lee of Sao Miguel, are not so favourably located.

They may find the gap between them and the leaders increasing as the race enters day six.