EDS Atlantic Challenge - the form

James Boyd looks at the odds for the runners and riders

Looking at the entries in the EDS Atlantic Challenge, the competition clearly divides into first and second divisions:

4:1. Sill (Roland Jourdain)
Roland Jourdain is hungry to beat Ellen and Kingfisher having been pipped at the post by them in both the Europe 1 New Man STAR and the Vendee Globe. Jourdain is a highly talented Figaro sailor who has raced extensively on the French multihull circuit and in the Whitbread. His Marc Lombard design has shown good pace against Kingfisher in the recent Grand Prix and is particularly good upwind, which should be a plus on this course.

5:1 Kingfisher (Nick Maloney)
Skipper Nick Maloney has huge experience in the America's Cup and Whitbread and although he is relatively fresh to Open 60s (hence the odds) there is a good crew on board including both Ellen and Mark Turner, PlayStation helmsman Brian Thompson and Whitbread sailor Adrienne Cahalan. The boat has shown good pace on all points of sail. She and Sill will have a good tussle for first place.

8:1. Ecover (Mike Golding)
Mike Golding's spent money getting the rig tarted up and has a new suit of Taffeta-covered 3DL sails (like Kingfisher had in the Vendee). But the team are quite late in their preparation and a light on Open 60 racing experience.

12:1. Gartmore (Josh Hall)
Josh has yet to show any real form in this boat, but he has a formidable crew including 1996/7 Vendee Globe winner Christophe Auguin, Californian Around Alone competitor Brad van Liew, top Figaro sailor and professional meteorologist Gilles Chiorri on board. If this group can't make the boat go well, then no one can. A good outside bet...

25:1 Fila (Andrea Scarabelli)
Other than when she was driven by the charismatic Italian Giovanni Soldini in the Around Alone, this boat has failed to show form despite being identical in concept to Mike Golding's boat. Their odds plummeted when last week Guido Broggi, Soldini's long term shore crew and skipper of the monohull, resigned and was replaced with the relatively unknown Scarabelli. However taking part on occasional legs will be Soldini and Isabelle Autissier who are both capable of raising Fila's game considerably.

30:1 La Rage de Vivre (Loic Pochet)
Although the Joubert/Nivelt-designed hull of this boat is good (it was originally the radical canting keel, canting rigged Petit Navire) it has been rerigged conventionally and put together on a small budget. Despite having Eric Tabarly's hugely experience brother Patrick on board it is unlikely to be on the pace

50:1 Alphagraphics (Helena Darvelid)
This boat is getting on for a decade old (it was originally Loick Peyron's Fujicolor from the 1992 Vendee Globe) and although heavily modified it is slow by today's standards. Darvelid's all female crew includes some talent, but they haven't had much chance to sail her before.