TODAY was day six for the crews in the Volvo Ocean Race, with three of the front runners in sight of each other as the fleet heads out west into the Atlantic.

A thundering start was followed by a period of frustrating calm for the eight.

On the first night, the yachts careered towards France at a remarkable 21 knots but then they encountered a bumpy ride into the wind across the Bay of Biscay, which slowed the fleet down and had many crew, who had not yet found their sea legs, suffering badly with seasickness.

Six days of racing and around 900 miles completed, the leaderboard of Illbruck, Team Tyco and Amer Sports One was separated by less than ten miles with John Kostecki's team, the best prepared of all the crews, in the lead.

In their daily despatches to Race HQ in Whiteley, skippers report that life on board has now settled settled down. Watch systems have been established as crews fall into a routine of eat-sleep-work that will drive the boats at full pelt across the 6.000 miles remaining of the first leg to Cape Town.

Gear failure has cost speed and time for some of the contenders. Grant Dalton on Amer Sports One, which led the fleet out of the Solent last Sunday, was forced to slow down after a halyard lock broke away from the mast

"We had to bear off sharp to recover our code zero sail and lost two miles before we could get the sail down and set it on a new halyard," said Kiwi Dalton, who also has two crewmembers working at half-strength with heavy colds.

Djuice Dragon fell back to last place after suffering damage to the headboard car which is used to hold the top of the mainsail in place.

They came to a halt as a temporary repair was carried out to keep the mainsail up.

Ahead of Djuice is Hamble skipper Lisa McDonald and her all-women crew who have been dogged by bad luck seeing their spinnaker split into two on the start line and now plugging leaks that have developed on board.

"We've been bailing out this morning, having found a few leaks," said Abigail Seager.

"Mainly its water coming down the main hatch and down with wet kit which is to be expected.

"We've also had a couple of leaks from the water ballast systems which leaks straight into the bunks which was a priority to sort out so we're looking forward to the tropics to dry everything else out."

Team Tyco, the Bermudan entry which has five Solent sailors on board including Southampton navigator Steve Hayles, is in second place after a trouble- free start and a good tactical call that saw them head west rather than the southerly route that some skippers have opted for.