The two biggest names in British single-handed yacht racing Mike Golding and Ellen MacArthur have locked horns in their bid to win the gruelling Route du Rhum.

Last night, Cowes yachts-woman MacArthur's Kingfisher had taken the lead from Golding in Ecover but with just five miles separating them, the battle to determine the best of British solo racers was in full flight.

As they headed towards the archipelago of the Azores, the pair had pulled away from the rest of the Open 60 fleet after their main rival Roland Jourdain in Sill was forced to divert to Madeira to repair a ripped headsail.

The damage among the fleet has been extensive due to treacherous weather conditions and after 2,770 nms, just nine of the 17 monohulls were still racing and only nine out of 18 multihull starters were in contention.

An upwind pounding during the first two days of the race from St Malo to Guadeloupe resulted in a broken daggerboard for Southampton yachtsman Golding, who was forced to slow down to make repairs.

MacArthur recorded gusts touching 50 knots and a squall that knocked Kingfisher flat. But despite that, she reported she had made up on her sleep.

"Managed to get a couple of hours of real recuperative sleep," she reported. "Think it was because I managed to get my feet warm - the first time in the race!

"The breeze is really kicking in, its been down at 25 sometimes, but the squalls are really violent.

"The sea is so white when they hit, and the sea state is very messed up. I've no idea how the boat can handle this.

"It's hard to accept that, on the surfs, we are touching 20 knots sometimes in these conditions.

"We got hit by a big squall about 20 minutes ago and got totally wiped out and laid flat."

Hamble's Miranda Merron, racing her Open 60 Un Univers de Services, was lying in fifth place, 250 miles behind the leader.

But Conrad Humphries, in Hellomoto, the Open 40, dismasted on Wednesday and headed to land.