Arthur Podesta, skipper of Elusive, predicted yesterday morning that there will be many more twists and turns to this race. And the veteran of 33 races spoke wise words indeed.

The forecast breeze arrived from the northwest but a massive wind hole is developing close to the Sicilian shoreline, threatening to trap the vast majority of the fleet. Many of the larger yachts are already stuck, crawling along at a very slow pace.

However, the chasing pack of smaller boats have turned north to stay clear of the windless area. Nick Jones’ First 44.7, Lisa, went north in the early hours of yesterday and it looks to be have been a master stroke.

At the time of writing, the British yacht, owned by Nick and Suzi Jones, was in better breeze than its rivals and if the wind picks up, the brave move north at Stromboli will have paid off handsomely for the husband and wife team from Chichester, England.

Meanwhile, Slovenian Maxi, Esimit Europa 2, is in a totally different position. Just 20 miles from Favignana, on the northwest extreme of the course, Esimit Europa 2 was charging away from its rivals, often hitting speeds of 14 knots.

Esimit Europa 2 was 40 miles ahead of Niklas Zennstrom’s Ran and Alessandro’s Stig.

Yesterday afternoon, Esimit Europa 2 was almost exactly halfway around the course and if the breeze holds out, could be back in Malta by midnight today to take Line Honours for the third consecutive year.

This has only ever been achieved once before by Enrico Recchu’s Carter 65 Bembow in 1977.