The cream rises to the top

The quality boats in the Volvo fleet have made a significant breakaway

Positions at 2200 GMT

PS	Yacht	Latitude	Longitude	DTF	DTL	DTL-C	SMG	CMG
1	illbruck	31 19.88N	078 13.44W	536	0	0	9.3	049
2	Assa Abloy	31 18.16N	078 14.92W	539	3	+2	8.8	048
3	News Corp	31 17.96N	078 14.64W	539	3	+1	9.1	049
4	Amer One	31 17.88N	078 14.80W	539	3	+2	9.0	049
5	Tyco	31 19.44N	079 00.44W	560	24	+8	7.0	015
6	SEB	31 20.92N	079 02.76W	560	24	+8	7.3	007
7	djuice	31 06.60N	078 42.60W	561	25	+7	7.2	053
8	Amer Too	30 34.44N	077 43.64W	565	29	+10	5.4	033

Already the Volvo split has split into A and B divisions, with most of the usual suspects in their respective groups. The two form boats, illbruck and Assa Abloy, have been trading places at the front, followed closely by News Corp and Amer Sports One just three miles astern.

Division B, meanwhile, is over 20 miles behind. As a high performing boat in recent legs, Tyco will be disappointed to be lying in fifth, even if they are leading the backmarkers. Not far behind are SEB, djuice and Amer Sports Too. But with the lateral separation of the backmarkers, who have fanned out line abreast behind the tightly clustered front four, it is still anybody's race.

The girls have taken a huge punt out into the Atlantic, all by themselves. Seeing as they have struggled to hold pace with the fleet when going the same way, it seems a sensible move. They will cause an upset by the end of this race, and with the vagaries of the Chesapeake Bay approaching in another day's time, leg 6 could be a good place for them to start.

The first 24 hours appear to have consisted of sail change after sail change, with Roger Nilson on Amer Sports One commenting on how most of the fleet appear to have used every spinnaker available to them within the first day out of Miami. Doubtless this is why illbruck is out front again. It comes back to those two solid years of homework, logging when to change gear from one sail plan to the next.