The Race leader Club Med has reached the south-east point of New Zealand's South Island and now has just half the globe left to circumnavigate.

Grant Dalton's high speed catamaran that has dominated most of the 31 days racing so far has completed 13,800 miles at an average speed of 19 knots .placed Innovation Explorer is 700 miles astern of Club Med averaging slightly less.

Club Med is set to slow down as a result of an anticyclone in the Tasman Sea, but this will give Innovation Explorer a chance to make up some miles. They are better placed to deal with the high pressure system even though they lost their daggerboard in the Southern Ocean then shattered their starboard side casquette and found the other bomb bay door for the liferaft locker broken in two.

"One thing we can say is that the boat is getting lighter with every piece of gear that falls off it," said crewmember Skip Novak.