Yachting: 'Little English girl' flirts with solo yacht race lead

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Solo sailor Ellen MacArthur, nicknamed the "little English girl" by her rivals, stole the lead briefly yesterday on the home stretch of the single-handed round-the-world yacht race.

MacArthur, sailing New Zealand-built boat Kingfisher, overtook Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux as the two boats crossed the Equator for the second time in the Vendee Globe.

But as quickly as 24-year-old MacArthur nosed in front - the first time she had led the fleet in 83 days at sea - she was back in second place again last night.

Desjoyeaux regained the lead, albeit by a meagre four miles, as he found the trade winds further to the north of the Englishwoman.

MacArthur was not disheartened: "There's still 3000 miles to go."

Over the past three weeks, MacArthur has staged an amazing comeback, catching Desjoyeaux and his boat, PRB, when she was more than 600 miles behind him rounding Cape Horn.

In the past few days she has struggled with breakages on board Kingfisher, having to scale the 24m mast twice to repair the weather instruments.

Then, as she sailed across the Equator on her way home to Southampton, MacArthur joined Desjoyeaux in the Doldrums.

"Mich and I are really suffering here.

"We've done just 65 miles in 24 hours - it's desperate," she said.

"I am very, very tired, having entered the Doldrums exhausted after climbing the mast. That wasn't the best way to start this battle with the calms.

"It's so fluky it's scary."

MacArthur was more concerned about being caught by another Frenchman, Marc Thiercelin, but last night he was still almost 250 miles behind.

In the other non-stop round-the-world race, Grant Dalton's catamaran, Club Med, set a speed record after smashing through the Southern Ocean.

Club Med tore a day and nine hours off the old record for the Indian Ocean run, between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia.

The old record of eight days, 23 hours and 17 minutes was set by Olivier de Kersauson's trimaran, Sport Elect, when it broke the Jules Verne round-the-world record.

Dalton is due to sail through Cook Strait on Saturday, winds allowing.

But he has warned his fans in Wellington that it is unlikely they will catch sight of his speed machine.

Club Med is more likely to sail near D'Urville Island - closer to the coast of the South Island - and it could be in the middle of the night.