Emig and Cousin lead

Sailing

With the 1995 winner Bernard Mallaret lying second and the 1994 winner Alain Fedensieu third, Marc Emig and Guillaume Cousin in Marseille held a slender lead last night in the first leg of the Tour de France a la Voile after the 23-boat fleet rounded Pointe de Barfleur in 10 to 12 knots of northerly on it way from Dieppe to Guernsey.

In Stockholm, Russell Coutts, who joins Fendensieu for the next five legs, suffered his first big defeat of a comeback into match racing which has restored him to number one in the rankings. He lost to the Frenchman Bertrand Pace in the Swedish Cup Match.

An improved showing by Britain's Lawrie Smith could not stop a second 18-foot skiff grand prix win for Australian Rob Smith in Weymouth.

The British solo yachtswoman Mary Falk knocked over 24 hours off the previous record for the class five 35-foot yachts in the Europe One Singlehanded Transatlantic Race from Plymouth to Newport, Rhode Island, setting a time of 19 days, 22 hours and 15 minutes.