Manuard into the lead

As Mini Transat fleet head across Bay of Biscay

At 1500GMT this afternon Sam Manuard had pulled into first place in the Mini Transat, ahead of second placed Jonathan McKee, as the front runners were approaching the half way mark between La Rochelle and Cape Finisterre.

In today's westerly winds, the fleet have not been able to lay the mark on starboard tack and a majority of the fleet is now on the left side of the course (ie closer to the Spanish coast) where the forecast over the next few hours shows extremely variable conditions as the high pressure systems to the west of Spain and over mainland Spain expand and contract. Tomorrow morning could see the boats heading downwind in light breeze, the wind having veered to the northeast.

Positions at 1500GMT

Pos	Sailno	Skipper	Boat	Class	Lat	Long	DTF
1	431	Samuel Manuard	TIP TOP TOO - GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE	proto	N444325	W0035615	1157
2	247	Jonathan McKee	TEAM MC LUBE	proto	N444040	W0034943	1161
3	240	Alex Pella	AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT	proto	N443948	W0034646	1162
4	347	Pierre Rolland	EXTRADO	proto	N444996	W0034460	1166
5	151	Armel Tripon	MOULIN ROTY	proto	N444569	W0034251	1167
6	312	Pascal Doin	ASNQ	proto	N445326	W0034356	1168
7	304	Frédéric Duval	SOJASUN	proto	N444040	W0033600	1170
8	265	Frédéric Duthil	ALL MER	proto	N450760	W0034736	1170
9	316	Pia L'Obry	EXPATRIAL.FR	proto	N444843	W0033798	1171
10	440	David Raison	RAYON LIQUIDE	serie	N445101	W0033668	1172
11	139	François Cuinet	REGLISSE	proto	N444826	W0033543	1172
12	227	Donald Wright	RUSSE NOIR	proto	N444793	W0033518	1172
13	121	David Lancry	MENSURA FROST	proto	N443883	W0033160	1172
14	342	Alessandro Zamagna	ARKE	proto	N444913	W0033531	1173
15	346	Sébastien Roubinet	ADRENALINE	proto	N443695	W0033081	1173
16	326	Ian Munslow	ISHTAR	proto	N444657	W0033344	1173
17	421	Michel Mirabel	GWALARN IV	serie	N445000	W0033385	1174
18	426	Erwan Tymen	POGO 2 NAVY LEST	serie	N445396	W0033493	1174
19	250	Brieuc Maisoneuve	PAYS GRANVILLAIS	serie	N444138	W0032988	1174
20	353	Willy Garcia	CEYLAN DIAMANTES	proto	N445046	W0033323	1174
21	303	Enrico Podesta	DIABOLO-SLAM	proto	N445603	W0033503	1175
22	428	David Sineau	FRANCE FERMETURE	serie	N444198	W0032933	1175
23	330	Jean-Pierre Balmes	CECIM	serie	N445753	W0033433	1176
24	138	Eric Defert	AMIRAL DE BRETAGNE	proto	N445121	W0033123	1176
25	209	Bertrand Lecharpentier	NEC HONFLEUR	serie	N445131	W0033088	1176
26	393	Cian Mc Carthy	THE TOM CREAN	proto	N444573	W0032820	1177
27	36	Peter de Smedt	HUYSMAN	proto	N445180	W0033028	1177
28	109	Gaspard Franeau	ZACK	proto	N444882	W0032869	1177
29	258	Marc Gascons	TIP-TOP	proto	N451123	W0033885	1177
30	321	Jean-Baptiste Pesquet Dejeanty	ARTECH - CAEN LA MER	proto	N444856	W0032801	1177
31	269	Lionel Rubio de Teran	GROUPE CIBF	serie	N445951	W0033220	1178
32	167	Manuel Castilla	VISION ORIGINALE	serie	N445260	W0032910	1178
32	405	Caroline Vieille	FONDATION JEROME LEJEUNE	proto	N444840	W0032745	1178
34	352	Luis Irisarri	DEVIAJE.COM	proto	N444985	W0032791	1178
35	135	Stéphane Ayrault	WYETH	proto	N445653	W0032983	1178
36	295	David Sautret	MIKALOU SAILING	serie	N445428	W0032868	1179
36	322	Gilles Guillerm	BLUE BOSSA	serie	N445341	W0032820	1179
38	340	Rémi Beauvais	SPI CALL CENTER	serie	N445960	W0033078	1179
38	354	Bruno Garcia	SALADINO	proto	N444902	W0032634	1179
38	416	Daniel Schaffer	SENSIL	proto	N445946	W0033073	1179
41	318	Yann Riou	THRANE & THRANE	serie	N450366	W0033254	1179
42	345	Cécile Poujol	INFORMATIQUE ET STATISTIQUES	serie	N445413	W0032790	1179
43	381	Gonzalo Botin	DON VITO	serie	N450230	W0033068	1180
44	371	Juan Carlos Sanchis Mari	SPASMOS	serie	N445340	W0032636	1180
45	404	Francis Hueber	SHAITAN ENSIETA ECOLE D'INGENIEURS BRESTOISE	serie	N450033	W0032856	1180
46	335	Barnabé Chivot	FTH THIRARD	proto	N445615	W0032611	1181
47	175	Adam Seamans	SPIRIT OF AMERICA	serie	N450183	W0032780	1181
48	102	Ghislain Gendron	VILLE DE BANDOL	proto	N444056	W0031788	1182
49	388	Yves Niort	DEMI-CLE SHIPCHANDLER	serie	N445805	W0032344	1183
50	29	Arthur Barret	UBAYE	proto	N450328	W0032426	1184
50	329	Laurent Jaunin	TERRE-ET-FAUNE.ORG	serie	N443955	W0031501	1184
52	273	Vincent Volk Leonovitch	GOUDURIX 2	serie	N445841	W0032125	1185
53	360	Henri Gourmelon	TOBABOOTS	serie	N444573	W0031376	1186
54	89	Rémy Malburet	SOEUR MARIE THERESE DES BATIGNOLLES	serie	N450416	W0032060	1187
55	333	Arsène Ledertheil	AILES DU DESIR	proto	N445474	W0031511	1188
56	444	Isabelle Magois	EDEN PARK	proto	N445543	W0031445	1189
57	355	Jacques Valente	ACTION INNOCENCE	serie	N450005	W0031605	1189
58	373	Christophe Dary	YELLOW SUBMARINE	serie	N451356	W0032093	1190
59	262	Eric Schmitt	LA LIMULE	serie	N453375	W0033050	1191
60	277	François-Jacques Jauffrineau	VENDEE PRISMA	proto	N445158	W0030803	1192
61	47	Bernard Morin	JOGGING INTERNATIONAL	serie	N445731	W0030835	1193
62	245	Patrick Bot	FINIST'MER ECOLE NAVALE	serie	N454850	W0033136	1197
63	34	Gustavo Pacheco	EPSILON	proto	N451318	W0030981	1197
64	56	James Bird	ATOMIC	proto	N451073	W0030851	1197
65	385	Jaime Mumbru	PORT DE BARCELONA	proto	N451693	W0022428	1229
66	260	Richard Mérigeaux	BON PIED BON OEIL	proto	N460463	W0011971	1287
67	185	Thomas Valentin	THOMAS HAWK	proto	N460878	W0010970	1295
NC	168	Fabrice Guillerm	RAULT LE SERVICE ALIMENTAIRE	serie	-	-
NC	282	Erwan Abalain	MARION NOEL CONSEILS	serie	-	-
NC	328	Tiphaine Vrignault	MITSUBISHI POUR MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE	serie	-	-