The mast broke at the second set of spreaders while they were sailing in around 14 knots of wind from the southwest. "There was a loud bang and the mast came down," commented McDonald in an email from the stricken boat. "We don’t know why it broke. Once we have sorted ourselves out and got underway again we will take a very close look." She said they were not going through any sort of manoeuvre at the time, so it seems fair to guess that it was indeed a problem with the hardware rather than the crew work. "I can‚t really say at this stage. Until we can get it down would be unfair to say, but I believe to be a technical failure," Lisa continued.

"We have been talking to the shore crew and syndicate management to see what’s feasible," commented McDonald. "They’re working through the possibilities now. One option is to turn around and head for Canada and ship the yacht to France where the spare rig can be stepped. The other option is to continue to La Rochelle and hope that we make it in time for the restart on May 25."

On board Amer Sports Too the crew have cut away the broken topmast and rather than throw it overboard have managed to lash it securely to the deck. They have set about stabilising the remaining 10 metres of their 26-metre mast and will have to re-cut some of their existing sails to fit the new reduced sail plan. "There’s enough mast left to set up a reasonably effective jury rig," wrote McDonald.

McDonald, Bridget Suckling, Keryn Henderson, Anna Drougge and Katie Pettibone all sailed on EF Education in the Whitbread Round the World Race four years ago and have already had experience of setting up such a jury rig. During that race their boat was dismasted in the Southern Ocean and they were forced to limp into southern Chile.

Lisa McDonald spoke to the Volvo Oean Race HQ via radio link-up : "We’re all gutted, everyone wants to do well, and we had high expectations for this leg.‰ Prior experience doesn’t make these situations any easier to cope with emotionally, but at least the team was able to set to and deal with the carnage quickly and effectively.

McDonald ran through the build-up to the disaster. "It was quite a nice day out, 10 to 15 knots of breeze, sailing along at normal angles, when we heard quite a loud bang." The origin of the bang wasn’t immediately obvious, and McDonald looked back to check some of the rigging like the running backstays.

Then they looked up as the mast came tumbling down, 10 metres above the deck. "The tip was in the water, and it was all hands on deck to get the main back on board. The wind increased which made it a little more difficult, trying to salvage all the bits and pieces. I was just pleased to get everything back on board and that no on was hurt."

After securing the rig and getting Amer Sports Too somewhere close back to being ship shape, next question was where to go next. "Did we carry on for another 2,500 miles across the Atlantic or make for the nearest port, in our case, Halifax about 400 miles away ?" she explained.

With a spare rig in England, it shouldn‚t be too difficult to get the girls up and running in time for the restart from La Rochelle on 25 May, certainly not compared with the epic trip that SEB’s spare rig had to endure down to Rio de Janeiro. But it was not yet clear to McDonald as to whether it would be feasible quite yet. "We’re all quite happy we‚re not a thousand miles away from the nearest land [as could have been the case in the Southern Ocean], and it would be nice to think we can get over there [to La Rochelle] in time for the next leg." But they have yet to locate a suitable cargo ship that happens to be heading in the right direction. "I don’t know about that, that’s not my department."

djuice’s Anthony ’Nocka’ Nossiter managed to pick out a silver lining from the dark cloud hanging over Amer Sports Too right now. "We just heard the girls dropped their rig ! Lucky they are a tuff bunch of sorts. They’ll handle it well and with a great story for their children one day. Imagine being able to tell your kids of some of the tales mommy took on in her youth, before she settled down. I wouldn’t believe my mom if she told me of such tales, and I think the ’chicks’ are going to have trouble making their kids believe one day."

News Corp has had their own déjà vu as they hit a submerged object again. "The last four hours have been among our most eventful, doing up to 25 knots of boat speed in 28 knots of breeze, boat completely underwater at times. Then, in the last hour, the breeze started to die. Next thing, we hit something, a soft hit rather than hard hit - would have been a fish - can’t think what else it would be out here. We slowed down a bit, so we had to back the boat down, and get rid of whatever it was we were trawling. It’s been a very eventful part of our lives," Jez Fanstone reported.

After the slower sailing yesterday, the speeds are up again for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet and they are on course for a fast crossing. Illbruck is still leading on a middle course with ASSA ABLOY and Tyco positioned on a slightly more northerly lane while SEB, News Corp, Amer Sports One and djuice have chosen to stay to the south. Over the last hours all boats were able to close in on the race leader. The wind is in the lower twenties and the water temperature has dropped to 16 degree Celsius.