MADRID: Ericsson 4 of Sweden took the lead on Sunday in the eighth stage of the Volvo race around the world, as the yachts entered the English Channel, one day after leaving the west of Ireland.

After passing the Fastnet Rock during the night, the seven teams rounded Lizard Point off southwest England before entering the busy shipping zone that is the English Channel enroute to Sweden, organisers said.

Ericsson 4, the overall leader, led its two main rivals, US entry Puma Ocean Racing and Spain's Telefonica Blue, after a night of racing at a fast pace of more than 20 knots.

"It was the first time during this race that we could hang 100 percent with the others while running in 25-30 knots," said Telefonica Blue's Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking.

"In one squall we had 40 knots and were hanging on for dear lives, we were more under water than above."

In the Channel, they will find calmer weather and are expected to shift toward the French coast in a bid to find brisker winds, before entering the North Sea.

The teams left Galway in Ireland on Saturday on the relatively short four-day 1,250-mile stage to Marstrand, near Gothenburg in southern Sweden.

Ericsson 4 has a 13-point advantage over Telefonica Blue, with Puma just one point further back.

A victory in the stage is worth eight points, and there remain 28 points to be won, including four from an in-port race in Stockholm.

The Volvo race, which began in Alicante, Spain in October, is to conclude in Saint Petersburg, Russia, late this month after negotiating 10 stages over 37,000 nautical miles.

Positions on the eighth stage at 1000 GMT Sunday:

1. Ericsson 4 (SWE)/Torben Grael (BRA) 938 miles from Marstrand

2. Puma Ocean Racing (USA)/Ken Read (USA) 1 mile behind

3. Telefonica Blue (ESP)/Bouwe Bekking (NED) at 2 miles

4. Ericsson 3 (SWE)/Magnus Olsson (SWE) 4

5. Green Dragon (CHN/EIR)/Ian Walker (GBR) 9

6. Delta Lloyd (NED)/Roberto Bermudez (ESP) 10

7. Telefonica Black (ESP)/Fernando Echavarri (ESP) 24

- AFP/de