TeeJayVee update

From Le Havre, James Boyd files news and images from the start pits of the Transat Jacques Vabre

British prospects

For the British competitors the prospects are looking good. In the Open 60s Mark Turner and Nick Moloney aboard Casto-Darty-But (the former Kingfisher) are in the money as it Mike Golding's Ecover, while in the 60ft tris Ellen MacArthur seems relaxed and confident with Alain Gautier on board Foncia-Kingfisher(above). The boat is not the newest nor the fastest now but is well sorted, is current leader of the ORMA championships and Ellen and Alain have the knowledge and experience to push the boat to the max. An Offshore Challenges double whammy would be a phenomenal result.

In the Open 50s Renaud le Youdec's new state of the art Berret-Racoupeau design Saving (presumably weight rather than money) is potentially the fastest boat, but former Team Philips crewmen Alex Bennett and Paul Larsen (below) have the experience and hunger to push their former skipper's old boat to the limit and this win over boat speed at the end of the day.