Eaten by the high

An update from the war torn Route du Rhum

While the Swiss young blade Steve Ravussin on Technomarine hightails it across to Guadeloupe in the Trades at speeds approaching 20 knots with little in the way of competition, Ellen MacArthur and Mike Golding remain locked in battle at the front of the monohull fleet.

Although Ellen is leading she is on a more northerly course and at present being north is bad for over the last couple of days the Azores high has filled in and is spreading its reach across the Atlantic. (See a transcript of an interview with Ellen on page 2...)

Ellen and Mike are still to the southeast of the high which at present is trying to extend its reach east. However in about two days time the forecast shows the high will have halted and - yet another - intense north Atlantic depression will be forcing it south.

For the front runners being south offers the possibility of more pressure. The movement of the high will make life particularly difficult for those mid-fleet such as Miranda Merron (see her update on page 3) who will have to dive further south or risk being becalmed and will not be able to cut the corner to the same degree as the frontrunners.

Following his stop in Madeira to change his ripped mainsail, Roland Jourdain on Sill has clearly got the message. He is currently furthest south in the monohull fleet and is also making the fastest speed. But the leaders are 500 miles ahead of him and even the mighty Sill will be hard pressed to make that up with around six days of racing left before the monos reach the finish at Pointe a Pitre in Guadeloupe.

The three leading 60-foot trimarans are on completely different courses and their progress these coming days will be interesting to follow. Swiss skipper Stève Ravussin on his older generation trimaran TechnoMarine (Alain Gautier’s old Foncia) and looks unstoppable.

This morning Ernesto Bertarelli, head of the Alinghi Challenge called his fellow country man and multihull sailor (Bertarelli has the hottest cat on Lake Geneva) to compliment him on his success in the Route du Rhum. At the daily chat session today Ravussin commented on why a Swiss can be so successful in this gruelling French solo race: “I am sure that the grandfathers in Brittany say to their grandchildren ‘be careful with the ocean’. Well in Switzerland, nobody talks about the ocean…”

TechnoMarine is expected to arrive in Pointe à Pitre in Guadeloupe on Thursday, 21 November.

Meanwhile second placed Lalou Roucayrol on Banque Populaire, is on a flier attempting to round the Azores High to the north, where he is sailing upwind, but is less likely to be becalmed. This plan of attack could also put him on a faster course to the finish line.
Mark Guillemot on Biscuits La Trinitaine–Ethypharm has stopped in the Azores and is expected to set off again this evening, although his progress will be slow as the anticyclone is over him. Michel Desjoyeaux aboard Géant, to the south, was the fastest boat with 14 knots in average speed in the last 24 hours.

Positions 17/11/02 15:00:00 GMT
Pos	Name	Skipper	Lat	Long	Dist	SOG	COG
60ft tris
1	TechnoMarine	Steve Ravussin	28 26.60' N	36 02.88' W	1637.1	17.1	272
2	Banque Populaire	Lalou Roucayrol	36 10.08' N	33 55.12' W	1950.6	14.5	235
3	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	29 14.88' N	22 43.64' W	2319.6	17.9	269
4	Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm	Marc Guillemot	37 44.40' N	25 39.56' W	2342.8	0	0
5	Bonduelle	Jean Le Cam	41 05.72' N	9 27.80' W	3119.6	6.8	75
ABD	Banque Covefi	Bertrand deBroc
ABD	Sergio Tacchini	Karine Fauconnier
ABD	Sopra Group	Philippe Monnet
ABD	Bayer CropSciences	Frederic Le Peutrec
ABD	Belgacom	Jean-Luc Nélias
ABD	Fujifilm	Loick Peyron
ABD	Groupama	Franck Cammas
ABD	Rexona Men	Yvan Bourgnon
ABD	Sodebo	Thomas Coville
ABD	TIM	Giovanni Soldini
ABD	Gitana X	Lionel Lemonchois
ABD	Eure&Loir-Lorénove	Francis Joyon
ABD	Foncia	Alain Gautier
Open 60s
1	Kingfisher	Ellen McArthur	28 50.92' N	34 56.24' W	1700.4	10.5	214
2	Ecover	Mike Golding	28 46.36' N	34 22.08' W	1723.2	9.6	204
3	Arcelor-Dunkerque	Joé Seten	29 53.04' N	28 22.80' W	2043.9	11.4	214
4	60ème Sud	Didier Munduteguy	33 03.60' N	27 33.12' W	2147	3.9	217
5	L'Heautontimoroumenos	Antoine Koch	31 32.32' N	25 53.00' W	2196.6	9.8	195
6	Sill	Roland Jourdain	27 06.04' N	24 27.00' W	2205.1	12.3	221
7	Un Univers de Services	Miranda Merron	31 35.94' N	24 06.18' W	2280.6	9.2	191
8	Garnier Belgium	Patrick De Radiguès	29 17.84' N	23 19.52' W	2289.6	9.1	214
9	Millimages-Gédéon	Patrick Favre	35 58.00' N	24 44.00' W	2336.8	6.3	198
10	Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma	Mike Birch	32 41.84' N	21 11.84' W	2444.7	8.2	272
11	Dinan Pays d'Entreprises	Frédéric Lescot	34 40.08' N	19 30.40' W	2557.6	7	234
12	Ciments St Laurent-Ocean	Georges Leblanc	38 04.28' N	18 13.52' W	2677	9.7	222
ABD	Virbac	Jean Pierre Dick
ABD	VMI	Sébastien Josse
ABD	La Rage de Vivre	Loïck Pochet
NL	Leasecom	Elie Canivenc
ABD	Temenos	Dominique Wavre
Class 1 monos
1	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	41 08.40' N	20 42.20' W	2636.3	7.5	200
ABD	Un Autre Regard Ensemble pour l'UNHCR	Nicolas  Peitrequin
Class 2 monos
1	Ashfield Healthcare	Nick Moloney	34 16.40' N	25 52.12' W	2251.7	2.2	222
2	Florys	Luc Coquelin	33 15.60' N	24 17.76' W	2305	6.2	240
3	Mille Visages	Hervé Vachée	35 31.92' N	24 42.88' W	2332.1	5	231
4	Branec III	Roger Langevin	37 13.40' N	25 08.60' W	2352.3	9	205
5	Laiterie St Malo	Clément Surtel	35 46.64' N	22 02.48' W	2459.3	8.1	215
6	Adecco Etoile Horizon	Bob Escoffier	35 57.16' N	17 40.96' W	2664.6	7.7	185
7	Défi Vendéen	J. F. Durand	44 06.30' N	9 39.06' W	3153.8	3	190
ABD	Apic A3S	Christophe Huchet
ABD	République Dominicaine	Yannick Bestaven
Class 3 monos
1	Storagetek	Regis Guillemot	36 40.86' N	25 08.76' W	2336	7.8	178
2	Passion Entreprendre	Jérôme Thiriez	39 23.84' N	22 18.88' W	2526.7	7.2	205
3	Grain de Soleil	Etienne Svilarich	42 07.56' N	21 52.08' W	2610.5	7.6	220
4	Fantasy-Forest	Alain Grinda	47 45.90' N	4 03.18' W	3441.2	5.9	68
ABD	Hellomoto	Conrad Humphreys
Class 2 multis
1	Crepes Whaou!	F. Y. Escofier	30 34.64' N	31 45.48' W	1897.1	8.6	259
2	Yachting-casino.com	Anne Cazeneuve	31 08.24' N	28 04.28' W	2085.2	11.2	189
3	Vaincre la mucoviscidose	Hervé Cleris	31 08.04' N	20 54.90' W	2423.9	8.1	255
4	Archipel Guadeloupe	Claude Thelier	32 14.76' N	21 02.88' W	2439.6	11	261
5	Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre	P.Y. Guennec	37 21.48' N	17 52.44' W	2676.1	9.5	217
ABD	E-Sat Tri Sélectif	Pascal Quintin
ABD	Groupe France Epargne	Patrick Morvan
ABD	Chaleur Fioul Elan	Didier Levillain