IT is getting tight to the finish of the Vendee Globe race with Cowes' Ellen MacArthur pushing hard on the lead of Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) as the pair head up the Atlantic for home.

Cowes-based MacArthur, in her craft Kingfisher, has gained on Desjoyeaux by heading east of the Falkland Islands to lie within 350 miles of PRB.

She has consistently been sailing around three knots faster and should continue to profit from relatively more stable conditions for several hours to come.

However, MacArthur was guarded about her achievement insisting: "It's been a struggle. We certainly are not yet in a stable weather pattern. The forecasts are subtly changing daily."

Stress is enemy number two as the fleet head into the fickle winds associated with the Saint Helen system with the Doldrums further ahead.

At the front end of the Vende Globe, the Saint Helen anticyclone is still misbehaving. Desjoyeaux is battling against his new enemy, this high pressure bubble, which is blocking his route and moving north at the same speed as he is sailing.

With a weak northerly breeze, not only has he been squeezing out just six to seven knots over the last 12 hours, but also he has had to head tighter upwind 50 degrees from the direct route.

The comfortable 600 plus-mile advance Desjoyeaux pushed out through the Pacific Ocean has halved in a matter of a few days.

Southampton's Mike Golding (Team Group 4) still lies in 11th place, 2,969 miles behind Desjoyeaux.