SAILING:Damian Foxall is co-skipper with Jean-Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac in the two-handed, non-stop Barcelona World Race. This latest log entry shows the Paprec-Virbac well ahead of the rest of the fleet

We are a full month and 8,000 miles into the race and we're suddenly into an entirely new game. Barely had PRB and ourselves entered the Southern Ocean and we regained the overall lead when we found ourselves without our main rivals.

We were shocked to learn that Vincent Riou and Seb Josse on PRB, with whom we had been disputing the lead, were out of the race after the top section of their rig collapsed on Saturday morning.

They were within a few miles of us and by their own account hadn't been pushing as hard as we were, which was why we had forged ahead.

It's an inevitable risk and could strike any of us so there's no gloating over their misfortune. I doubt any of us in the fleet want to win this by dint of others being knocked out.

On the other hand, ocean racing is as much a test of humans as it is of design and equipment. We've always considered their boat the race pacesetter and as the lads on PRB head north to Cape Town, hopefully before the next low-pressure system and its 40-knot winds reach the area, JP and I switch our attention to the chasing pack.

We were first to pass through the fourth scoring-gate due south of the Cape of Good Hope but we're not likely to collect points for first place as Alex Thompson and Andrew Cape on Hugo Boss have rocketed into form and are making steady gains as each sked comes in.

This form isn't a surprise; we expected their speed. And fair play to them, they established a world record for a 60-foot monohull with 500 miles sailed in 24 hours - that's an average of 20.83 knots for the period.

At least Seb can take some comfort as he heads to Africa from the fact that his outright monohull record of 563-miles set on ABN AMRO 2 in the last Volvo Race remains intact, for the time being at least.

Hugo Boss may be gaining but they still have Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Néilas on Veolia Environment, 40 miles ahead, to catch before finding themselves with another 82 miles between themselves and us. It sounds a lot but in the extremes of the Roaring Forties, a small slip by us or even a problem with gear could cost us the lead.

Our job now is to concentrate on positioning ourselves for the best route through the progression of lows heading eastwards. We'll be averaging around 20 knots much of the time so the wet and freezing cold makes this the toughest stage of the race.

Only another month to go!

Meanwhile, PRB aren't the only ones getting problems to contend with.

Estrella Damm had a collision of some kind and have damaged their portside rudder and they are now heading to Cape Town also.

As for Vincent and Seb heading for Africa, their consolation prize for being knocked out of the race is that they can enjoy Christmas in Cape Town.

Have one for us, boys.

In conversation with David Branigan (branigan@indigo.ie)