Out on his own

Jonathan McKee a country mile ahead in Mini Transat's first leg

As the rest of the Mini Transat fleet negotiate the Cape Verde islands, so American double Olympic medallist Jonathan McKee has extended his lead still further and this morning was a phenomenonal 54 miles ahead of the race's early leader Frenchman Armel Tripon.

While the bulk of the fleet have passed through the middle of the Cape Verdes, the only competitor who seems to be avoiding them is Spaniard Alex Pella, who is still way out to the right hand side (west) of the race course, although this tactic seems not to be working to great effect at the moment - he's currently down to 23th. If Pella doesn't get entangled in the windshadow from the islands, then maybe he will make some gains today.

For McKee the next stop is the Doldrums which currently appear to be around 5degN. Prior to the start the McKee told us that with such little weather information being broadcast to the fleet, he would have to work on statistical information and his own on board observations about determining the best place to cross this notorious area of alternating calms and squalls.

The Mini sailors receive only the most basic of forecasts and although McKee prior to the start was working with several of the world's best meteorologist/routers, the Doldrums will be effectively a lottery - a place where he stands as much chance of making big gains as he does seeing his lead completely eroded.

The latest victim is top female competitor, Swede Pia L’Obry on 316-
Expatria.fr. After her seventh place on the first leg she has informed the race organisation that she will be making a stopover in Mindello on the island of Sao Vicente, for as yet unknown reasons.

At present the boats are still sailing in the north northeasterly trades of around 10 knots which the forecast charts show veering slightly more to the east and building over the course of today thanks to a small area of low pressure further down the track at around 8deg N.

Positions at 0700GMT

Pos	Sail no	Skipper	Boat	Class	Lat	Long	DTF
1	247	Jonathan McKee	TEAM MC LUBE	proto	N134596	W0241698	1828
2	151	Armel Tripon	MOULIN ROTY	proto	N150646	W0251000	1882
3	431	Samuel Manuard	TIP TOP TOO - LE GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE	proto	N145741	W0240601	1898
4	139	François Cuinet	REGLISSE	proto	N150153	W0235946	1904
5	347	Pierre Rolland	EXTRADO	proto	N153933	W0252445	1908
6	346	Sébastien Roubinet	ADRENALINE	proto	N151300	W0235928	1915
7	354	Bruno Garcia	SALADINO	proto	N160228	W0251603	1932
8	353	Willy Garcia	CEYLAN DIAMANTES	proto	N160351	W0251410	1934
9	312	Pascal Doin	ASNQ	proto	N153095	W0235035	1934
10	393	Cian Mc Carthy	THE TOM CREAN	proto	N153780	W0235161	1940
11	440	David Raison	RAYON LIQUIDE	serie	N152233	W0231121	1943
12	426	Erwan Tymen	POGO 2 NAVY LEST	serie	N160925	W0250288	1943
13	260	Richard Mérigeaux	BON PIED BON OEIL	proto	N155283	W0241218	1946
14	385	Jaume Mumbru	PORT DE BARCELONA	proto	N154741	W0235503	1948
15	250	Brieuc Maisoneuve	PAYS GRANVILLAIS	serie	N153358	W0231606	1951
16	167	Manuel Castilla	VISION ORIGINALE	serie	N155543	W0240478	1951
17	258	Marc Gascons	TIP-TOP	proto	N155481	W0235410	1955
18	326	Ian Munslow	ISHTAR	proto	N155531	W0235091	1957
19	421	Michel Mirabel	GWALARN IV	serie	N154373	W0232378	1957
20	269	Lionel Rubio de Teran	GROUPE CIBF	serie	N160178	W0240246	1958
21	322	Gilles Guillerm	BLUE BOSSA	serie	N155968	W0235711	1958
22	428	David Sineau	FRANCE FERMETURES	serie	N160781	W0241446	1959
23	240	Alex Pella	AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT	proto	N165746	W0262720	1964
24	138	Eric Defert	AMIRAL DE BRETAGNE	proto	N160861	W0240176	1965
25	168	Fabrice Guillerm	RAULT LE SERVICE ALIMENTAIRE	serie	N155930	W0233113	1968
26	330	Jean-Pierre Balmes	CECIM	serie	N160933	W0234331	1972
27	282	Erwan Abalain	MARION NOEL CONSEILS	serie	N160005	W0232030	1973
28	318	Yann Riou	THRANE & THRANE	serie	N161496	W0235478	1973
29	303	Enrico Podesta	DIABOLO-SLAM	proto	N163588	W0243260	1979
30	227	Donald Wright	RUSSE NOIR	proto	N165098	W0251028	1980
31	352	Luis Irisarri	DEVIAJE.COM	proto	N162843	W0235238	1986
32	245	Patrick Bot	FINIST'MER ECOLE NAVALE	serie	N165848	W0250256	1990
33	381	Gonzalo Botin	DON VITO	serie	N161340	W0225713	1995
34	209	Bertrand Lecharpentier	NEC HONFLEUR	serie	N160580	W0223836	1996
35	316	Pia L'Obry	EXPATRIA.FR	proto	N165900	W0244566	1996
36	321	Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty	ARTECH - CAEN LA MER	proto	N171111	W0244490	2007
37	135	Stéphane Ayrault	WYETH	proto	N171435	W0244021	2012
38	371	Juan Carlos Sanchis Mari	SPASMOS	serie	N172595	W0243173	2026
39	36	Peter de Smedt	HUYSMAN	proto	N162970	W0221781	2026
39	416	Daniel Schaffer	SENSIL	proto	N165198	W0230611	2026
41	175	Adam Seamans	SPIRIT OF AMERICA	serie	N165911	W0230300	2034
42	185	Thomas Valentin	THOMAS HAWK	proto	N170331	W0230883	2035
43	444	Isabelle Magois	EDEN PARK	proto	N171003	W0231906	2037
44	342	Alessandro Zamagna	ARKE	proto	N174555	W0243738	2042
45	345	Cécile Poujol	INFORMATIQUE ET STATISTIQUES	serie	N170985	W0230030	2044
46	295	David Sautret	MIKALOU SAILING	serie	N172391	W0230781	2054
47	373	Christophe Dary	SAGA MERCEDES BENZ	serie	N170496	W0221771	2057
48	262	Eric Schmitt	LA LIMULE	serie	N174901	W0225311	2083
49	388	Yves Niort	DEMI-CLE SHIPCHANDLER	serie	N174095	W0223228	2084
50	29	Arthur Barret	UBAYE	proto	N181825	W0233081	2096
51	56	James Bird	ATOMIC	proto	N174601	W0221283	2096
52	329	Laurent Jaunin	TERRE-ET-FAUNE.ORG	serie	N175953	W0223053	2101
53	333	Arsène Ledertheil	LA CIGOGNE DE L'OCEAN	proto	N181616	W0221291	2124
54	34	Gustavo Pacheco	EPSILON	proto	N182986	W0222213	2132
55	277	François-Jacques Jauffrineau	VENDEE PRISMA	proto	N182476	W0215661	2138
56	335	Barnabé Chivot	FTH THIRARD	proto	N184886	W0215668	2160
57	89	Rémy Malburet	SOEUR MARIE THERESE DES BATIGNOLLES	serie	N190651	W0223633	2160
58	360	Henri Gourmelon	TOBABOOTS	serie	N184813	W0213551	2168
59	109	Gaspard Franeau	AVOCATS SANS FRONTIERES	proto	N185651	W0214166	2173
60	47	Bernard Morin	JOGGING INTERNATIONAL	serie	N195000	W0220350	2212
61	273	Vincent Volk Leonovitch	GOUDURIX 2	serie	N195880	W0205305	2249
62	340	Rémi Beauvais	SPI CALL CENTER	serie	N212831	W0204751	2332
63	355	Jacques Valente	ACTION INNOCENCE	serie	N275900	W0151611	2817
NC	121	David Lancry	MENSURA FROST	proto	-	-