Transat Jacques Vabre Report: Sunday, BBC Two, Snooker interval

The Atlantic can be a fearsome beast at the best of times, and sailing across it requires immense amounts of skill and determination.

Transat Jacques Vabre competitors sail in the opposite direction to the coffee trade route of the 19th Century, leaving Le Havre in France and heading for Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

The 4,300 mile route takes competitors through a number of diverse weather systems, including the trade winds off the Canaries and Cape Verde islands, and the doldrums over the equator.

This, allied to the fact that the Atlantic in mid-November is no place to be hanging around, with freezing water crashing all over the boats, makes the Transat one of the hardest races in the world.

Each crew is made up from two yachtsmen or women, with the challenging task of keeping the yacht travelling as fast as possible whilst maintaining a constant watch day and night.

And this year's competition was the largest yet, involving 44 teams, sailing in Open 50 and 60 Multihulls, and Open 50 and 60 Monohulls.

Among the teams that set off were the highly rated duo of Britain's Ellen MacArthur and France's Alain Gautier on Foncia, an Open 60 Multihull.

Another Franco-Brit team was the Roland Jourdain/Alex Thomson partnership in Sill, an Open 60 Monohull, with Thomson taking time out during the race to provide Grandstand with a running commentary.

England winning meant that Roland had to do all the sail changes as we approached Brazil Sill's Alex Thomson (r)

Team relations were particularly strained during the closing stages of the recent Rugby World Cup, as France prepared to meet England in the semi-finals.

The pair kept up to date with the latest scores via text-commentary over the internet - but as Thomson explained, much more than national pride was at stake.

"It was a great relief to hear that Wilkinson had scored another penalty before half-time," he told Grandstand.

"England winning meant that Roland had to do all the sail changes as we approached Brazil - but if France had won my fate would have been unthinkable!

"I would have had to eat one of Roland's delicacies - raw flying fish that land on the boat with a touch of lemon juice.

"Who wants to eat a fish that flies! It's just not normal."

The duo eventually finished in second place, hotly pursued by Team Cowes, crewed by Australia's Nick Molony and Britain's Sam Davies.

Speaking to Grandstand in the mid-Atlantic, Davies said that while the race was going to plan, the conditions had been a real test of the crew's endurance.

"It has been quite hard so far, and it has been the longest I've been in my survival suit for the last three years," she said.

2003 TRANSAT WINNERS Open 60 Mono: Virbac Open 60 Multi: Groupama Open 50 Mono: Hellomoto Open 50 Multi: Mollymawk

"That shows just how rough and unpredictable the conditions have been.

"Sleep is tricky, sometimes I've been lying down for two hours and when I get up it doesn't feel like I've slept at all!

"On average I'm getting about four hours sleep a day which is ok, but even when you're in the cabin you are always on standby to help the other one.

"That's life though, the sailing has been good and we are both really enjoying it."

Team Cowes eventually finished in a creditable sixth position after 17 days, 19 hours and 57 minutes on the water, but there was disappointment for one of Britain's most famous sailors, Ellen Macarthur.

Her giant Trimaran Foncia became yet another victim of the doldrums, with Macarthur and co-skipper Alain Gautier resigned to finishing down the field after becoming becalmed en-route to Brazil.