Slow going for Minis

As fleet make for Cape Finistere

Which way to go? This morning the 70 Minis taking part in the first leg of the Mini Transat between La Rochelle and Lanzarote are still a long way south of the direction route between the start and the corner at Cape Finistere.

This morning the boats have been having to make the best of a transistion phase in the wind as it veers to the north and possibly even northeast but this morning was providing little more than 2-4 knots of pressure.

"At least they'll be able to sleep. That's all they can do," jokes Race Director Denis Hugues.

Still hanging in there in first place overall is Samuel Manuard who is now 5,5 miles ahead of Jonathan McKee and Pierre Rolland. Fred Dutill who was the only boat to head offshore initialy on the opposite tack has made reasonable progress and is now in fifth place.

The boats are expected to reach Cape Finistere during the course of Friday. The northeasterly following winds look set to hang in there until this time.

Pos	Sail	Skipper	Boat	Class	Lat	Long	DTF
1	431	Samuel Manuard	TIP TOP TOO - GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE	proto	N441548	W0053291	1083
2	247	Jonathan Mc Kee	TEAM MC LUBE	proto	N441253	W0052390	1088
3	347	Pierre Rolland	EXTRADO	proto	N435035	W0051536	1091
4	240	Alex Pella	AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT	proto	N435568	W0051530	1091
5	265	Frédéric Duthil	ALL MER	proto	N442426	W0051923	1095
5	282	Erwan Abalain	MARION NOEL CONSEILS	serie	N434839	W0050976	1095
7	312	Pascal Doin	ASNQ	proto	N435048	W0050903	1095
8	139	François Cuinet	REGLISSE	proto	N434805	W0050351	1099
9	304	Frédéric Duval	SOJASUN	proto	N440453	W0050635	1099
10	316	Pia L'Obry	EXPATRIA.FR	proto	N434294	W0050205	1100
11	426	Erwan Tymen	POGO 2 NAVY LEST	serie	N440883	W0050376	1102
12	151	Armel Tripon	MOULIN ROTY	proto	N442406	W0050836	1102
12	440	David Raison	RAYON LIQUIDE	serie	N435033	W0045956	1102
14	353	Willy Garcia	CEYLAN DIAMANTES	proto	N435206	W0045970	1102
15	346	Sébastien Roubinet	ADRENALINE	proto	N434876	W0045800	1103
16	258	Marc Gascons	TIP-TOP	proto	N440141	W0045922	1104
16	354	Bruno Garcia	SALADINO	proto	N435239	W0045765	1104
18	393	Cian Mc Carthy	THE TOM CREAN	proto	N434413	W0045598	1104
19	209	Bertrand Lecharpentier	NEC HONFLEUR	serie	N435148	W0045548	1105
19	342	Alessandro Zamagna	ARKE	proto	N434535	W0045476	1105
21	326	Ian Munslow	ISHTAR	proto	N434596	W0045393	1106
22	227	Donald Wright	RUSSE NOIR	proto	N434316	W0045263	1106
22	295	David Sautret	MIKALOU SAILING	serie	N435046	W0045348	1106
24	381	Gonzalo Botin	DON VITO	serie	N440880	W0045628	1107
25	168	Fabrice Guillerm	RAULT LE SERVICE ALIMENTAIRE	serie	N434543	W0045195	1107
25	250	Brieuc Maisoneuve	PAYS GRANVILLAIS	serie	N434111	W0045153	1107
27	428	David Sineau	FRANCE FERMETURE	serie	N434246	W0045091	1108
28	269	Lionel Rubio de Teran	GROUPE CIBF	serie	N442291	W0045930	1108
29	321	Jean-Baptiste Pesquet Dejeanty	ARTECH - CAEN LA MER	proto	N434176	W0045013	1108
29	405	Caroline Vieille	FONDATION JEROME LEJEUNE	proto	N434630	W0045063	1108
31	322	Gilles Guillerm	BLUE BOSSA	serie	N435306	W0045016	1109
32	345	Cécile Poujol	INFORMATIQUE ET STATISTIQUES	serie	N435250	W0044960	1109
33	138	Eric Defert	AMIRAL DE BRETAGNE	proto	N440855	W0045191	1110
34	421	Michel Mirabel	GWALARN IV	serie	N434316	W0044706	1110
35	371	Juan Carlos Sanchis Mari	SPASMOS	serie	N435330	W0044785	1111
36	328	Tiphaine Vrignault	MITSUBISHI POUR MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE	serie	N435228	W0044681	1111
37	335	Barnabé Chivot	FTH THIRARD	proto	N435260	W0044545	1112
38	121	David Lancry	MENSURA FROST	proto	N433496	W0044351	1113
39	36	Peter de Smedt	HUYSMAN	proto	N442786	W0045405	1113
40	416	Daniel Schaffer	SENSIL	proto	N442378	W0045166	1113
41	388	Yves Niort	DEMI-CLE SHIPCHANDLER	serie	N440103	W0044513	1114
42	330	Jean-Pierre Balmes	CECIM	serie	N443741	W0045530	1115
43	135	Stéphane Ayrault	WYETH	proto	N442413	W0044936	1115
44	175	Adam Seamans	SPIRIT OF AMERICA	serie	N442523	W0044825	1116
45	167	Manuel Castilla	VISION ORIGINALE	serie	N442623	W0044783	1117
46	318	Yann Riou	THRANE & THRANE	serie	N443950	W0045173	1118
47	404	Francis Hueber	SHAITAN ENSIETA ECOLE D'INGENIEURS BRESTOISE	serie	N441703	W0044248	1118
48	333	Arsène Ledertheil	AILES DU DESIR	proto	N434861	W0043650	1118
49	245	Patrick Bot	FINIST'MER ECOLE NAVALE	serie	N450438	W0050450	1119
50	444	Isabelle Magois	EDEN PARK	proto	N440261	W0043793	1119
51	89	Rémy Malburet	SOEUR MARIE THERESE DES BATIGNOLLES	serie	N442315	W0044253	1120
52	340	Rémi Beauvais	SPI CALL CENTER	serie	N443875	W0044786	1120
53	352	Luis Irisarri	DEVIAJE.COM	proto	N441476	W0043876	1120
54	29	Arthur Barret	UBAYE	proto	N443386	W0044493	1121
55	47	Bernard Morin	JOGGING INTERNATIONAL	serie	N441689	W0043649	1122
56	102	Ghislain Gendron	VILLE DE BANDOL	proto	N441976	W0043616	1123
57	109	Gaspard Franeau	ZACK	proto	N444131	W0044370	1124
58	373	Christophe Dary	YELLOW SUBMARINE	serie	N445290	W0044675	1126
59	277	François-Jacques Jauffrineau	VENDEE PRISMA	proto	N435288	W0042675	1126
60	34	Gustavo Pacheco	EPSILON	proto	N443845	W0043661	1128
61	56	James Bird	ATOMIC	proto	N442741	W0043118	1129
62	329	Laurent Jaunin	TERRE-ET-FAUNE.ORG	serie	N442518	W0043023	1129
63	355	Jacques Valente	ACTION INNOCENCE	serie	N443310	W0042606	1134
64	262	Eric Schmitt	LA LIMULE	serie	N451820	W0044011	1140
65	360	Henri Gourmelon	TOBABOOTS	serie	N443791	W0041276	1144
66	385	Jaime Mumbru	PORT DE BARCELONA	proto	N443063	W0040153	1150
67	273	Vincent Volk Leonovitch	GOUDURIX 2	serie	N451313	W0041803	1152
68	260	Richard Mérigeaux	BON PIED BON OEIL	proto	N450936	W0031866	1190
69	185	Thomas Valentin	THOMAS HAWK	proto	N454301	W0023973	1227
NC	303	Enrico Podesta	DIABOLO-SLAM	proto	-	-