Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux has pulled further ahead in the Vendee Globe single-handed nonstop round-the-world race, while England's Ellen MacArthur stepped up her challenge for second.

Desjoyeaux, 53 miles ahead of his pursuers two days earlier, stretched his lead to 214 miles in the Southern Ocean.

Behind him, compatriot Roland Jourdain was fighting off a strong challenge from MacArthur.

The 23-year-old closed the gap after fearing she had made a tactical blunder in charting her course.

"I am not sure if my choice is the right one," she said earlier.

"The wind is fluctuating and my emotions run from laughter to crying as the wind swings and the rain pours."

Later she said: "I'm 36 miles from Roland, excellent, so the night went well after all."

The leaders are about 2,800 miles from Cape Horn, a distance they should cover in about nine days, leaving them around three days ahead of the pace set in the last race four years ago.

Of the fleet of 24 boats which started from Les Sable d'Olonne in France on November 9, 18 are still competing.

The race takes them down the Atlantic Ocean, around Antarctica in an easterly direction to Cape Horn, then back up the Atlantic to France.