MacArthur in the Doldrums

Foncia has been passed by Groupama and Fujifilm

Ellen MacArthur has dropped to third place in the multihulls class of the Transat Jacques Vabre race.

MacArthur and co-skipper Alain Gautier on board Foncia were ahead, but are now 34 miles behind the leaders, Groupama.

Gautier said: "It is frustrating to lose in one day all the big lead we had gained in one week. But there is still a long way to go and it is not over yet.

Team-mate MacArthur added: "The Doldrums are always a bit of a lottery. We are a bit upset that Groupama has slipped ahead of us.

  Multihull leaders, Monday 1700 GMT

Groupama

Fujifilm

Foncia-kingfisher

"But the route is long, and it all starts from here."

Frenchman Franck Cammas and Swiss co-skipper Steve Ravussin on board Groupama have performed best in the difficult Doldrums.

Direct route

"We haven't slept much as we both spent the whole night manoeuvring," Cammas said.

"We hope to get out of the Doldrums soon but we still haven't reached the Eastern winds."

The duo chose a direct route to get across the Doldrums despite the risk of being slowed down for a longer period of time - with the Doldrums being thicker on the East.

But Groupama managed to maintain its speed to take the lead.

Fujifilm, skippered by Loick Peyron and Loick Le Mignon, is lying second, 13.2 nautical miles behind the leader.

The multihulls still have more than 2000 miles to go to the finish.

Roland Jourdain and Gael Le Cleac'h on Sill lead the open 60-foot monohulls division.

Britain's Alex Bennett and Paul Larsen aboard One Dream One Mission are setting the pace in the open 50-foot monohulls fleet.