Tantalisingly close finish between PSP Logistics, Jamaica Get All Right and Qingdao

It is an extremely close battle between leaders PSP Logistics, Qingdao and Jamaica Get All Right with the teams fighting for line honours into Rio.

The strong headwinds and tough beat into Rio has slowed progress further with the first yacht expected to arrive after 1pm BST, 9am local time.

Jamaica Get All Right has come further south looking for a good wind angle to tack towards the line and is currently in third position just 0.3 miles behind second-placed Qingdao.

OneDLL is now in fourth place fifteen miles ahead of Henri Lloyd which will have a redress time of seven hours, 15 minutes applied.

Pete Stirling, skipper of Jamaica Get All Right, said: “The last 24 hours have been a long slog that has seen us beating upwind in winds of up to 35 knots. Our current sail plan is 2nd reefed mainsail, staysail and Yankee 3 which on the whole is working well.

“PSP Logistics is tantalisingly close just a couple of miles ahead of us.

“Every time we get close they pull away again. Meanwhile Qingdao, OneDLL and Henri Lloyd aren't far behind us so we are having to watch out for them as well. This has been a very long and tough race and even now, right at the very end, we are pushing as hard as we possibly can.”

The rest of the fleet continue to fight the strong head winds into Rio and the past 24 hours has seen some intense match racing as the top half of the fleet beats its way through the final 100 miles to Rio.

For more details of the fight to get into Rio, read the skippers’ reports here. You can keep an eye on the fleet’s progress here at the Official Race Viewer.