Calamities aside, the eight VO 70’s in the Volvo Ocean Race are now free of the Mediterranean Sea, having passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean. They are heading towards a scoring gate off Brazil, and then to the finish of Leg One in Cape Town.

It was a day of broad reach true wind angles on starboard, though with the speed of these boats, all reaching is tight reaching. Leader Ericsson 4, under skipper Torben Grael spent much of yesterday fighting for first place with Ken Read’s PUMA. Further back in the fleet, boats are experiencing problems.

Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe Bekking had to head into a bay near Gibraltar for replacement parts and a 12-hour penalty after their tiller arm broke, while Team Russia, skippered by Andreas Hanakamp blew out their new masthead spinnaker and are having to deal with a leaky keel and submerged electronics.

The length of Leg One is 6500nm, with teams expected to finish by the first week in November. Current standings (as of Oct. 13, 1:00am GMT):
1. Ericsson 4, Torben Grael, 5950 nm distance to finish
2. Puma, Ken Read, 3 nm distance to leader
3. Ericsson 3, Anders Lewander, 5 nm DTL
4. Telefonica Black, Fernando Echavarri, 5 nm DTL
5. Green Dragon, Ian Walker, 18 nm DTL
6. Team Russia, Andreas Hanakamp, 30 nm DTL
7. Delta Lloyd, Ger O’Rourke, 59 nm DTL
8. Telefonica Blue, Bouwe Bekking, 80 nm DTL

Keep up with the race online.