Things aren’t looking good for Tony Bullimore. He was forced to head north-east to climb out of the way of a vicious low pressure system sweeping up behind his 102ft catamaran Doha over the weekend, after weather guru Lee Bruce predicted winds of up to 40 knots.

Doha’s subsequent drop in speed put Bullimore behind the 71day 14 hour solo circumnavigation record he is chasing. Making slow progress slower, Bullimore today reported rigging problems had forced him to slow down to effect repairs to the 112ft rig. ‘There is no cause for concern. Everything is under control,’ he assured his team, but his chances of beating Ellen’s record are looking more and more unlikely.

There’s still time to pull it back, however, and Bullimore remains characteristically confident that his bigger multihull has the legs to catch up on MacArthur’s benchmark time in the lighter winds of the Atlantic.

See www.teambullimore.com for more on Tony’s quest.