Procession

Manuard holds emphatic lead on penultimate day at sea

As the front runners in the Mini Transat pass Recife and sail down the Brazilian coast so the race has turned slightly processional with Sam Manuard now 80 miles ahead of nearest rival Armel Tripon. However as Simon Curwen, second in the last Mini Transat, reports, this final stretch is far from straightforward and skippers must decide how best to play the land effects. The gradient wind appears to be 10 knots from the east southeast. Barring disaster and with a little over 200 miles to go Manuard should finish around tomorrow lunchtime in Salvador de Bahia. This will mean that he has won both legs of the Mini Transat.

A closer battle is going on in the series class. Manuael Castilla is still leading but holds an advantage of just six miles over David Sineau.

Among the Anglo-Saxon contingent Cian McCarthy is still suffering from his westerly approach to the Fernando de Noronha island waypoint and is down to 23rd, just astern of Whitbread veteran, Jawsey - Don Wright.

Positions 0700GMT

Pos	Sail no	Skipper	Boat	Class	Lat	Long	DTF
1	431	Samuel Manuard	TIP TOP TOO - GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE	proto	S103386	W0360063	202.9
2	151	Armel Tripon	MOULIN ROTY	proto	S093073	W0351093	282.2
3	240	Alex Pella	AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT	proto	S084355	W0345206	341.9
4	347	Pierre Rolland	EXTRADO	proto	S082803	W0343725	363.2
5	247	Jonathan Mc Kee	TEAM MC LUBE	proto	S074093	W0344276	397.7
6	260	Richard Mérigeaux	BON PIED BON OEIL	proto	S074850	W0341205	409.7
7	354	Bruno Garcia	SALADINO	proto	S071761	W0332906	460.5
8	353	Willy Garcia	CEYLAN DIAMANTES	proto	S071566	W0333013	461.3
9	312	Pascal Doin	ASNQ	proto	S070616	W0333686	464.5
10	303	Enrico Podesta	DIABOLO-SLAM	proto	S070208	W0330248	489.5
11	139	François Cuinet	REGLISSE	proto	S063436	W0333516	490.8
12	385	Jaime Mumbru	PORT DE BARCELONA	proto	S064650	W0331168	495.5
13	258	Marc Gascons	TIP-TOP	proto	S061746	W0331850	514.3
14	167	Manuel Castilla	VISION ORIGINALE	serie	S060565	W0333216	516
15	428	David Sineau	FRANCE FERMETURE	serie	S054921	W0334488	522.7
16	326	Ian Munslow	ISHTAR	proto	S054470	W0334191	528.1
17	421	Michel Mirabel	GWALARN IV	serie	S061866	W0324251	535.4
18	318	Yann Riou	THRANE & THRANE	serie	S054978	W0330790	542.8
19	426	Erwan Tymen	POGO 2 NAVY LEST	serie	S060801	W0324218	543.9
20	440	David Raison	RAYON LIQUIDE	serie	S053285	W0331360	553.5
21	330	Jean-Pierre Balmes	CECIM	serie	S051928	W0330173	571.3
22	227	Donald Wright	RUSSE NOIR	proto	S052670	W0324628	574.1
23	393	Cian McCarthy	THE TOM CREAN	proto	S050740	W0330325	580.3
24	185	Thomas Valentin	THOMAS HAWK	proto	S051358	W0324311	586.6
25	322	Gilles Guillerm	BLUE BOSSA	serie	S051101	W0323898	591.1
26	282	Erwan Abalain	MARION NOEL CONSEILS	serie	S051688	W0320593	606.3
27	352	Luis Irisarri	DEVIAJE.COM	proto	S053050	W0313408	616.3
28	209	Bertrand Lecharpentier	NEC HONFLEUR	serie	S044495	W0323081	617.1
29	316	Pia L'Obry	EXPATRIAL.FR	proto	S052248	W0313313	622.9
30	269	Lionel Rubio de Teran	GROUPE CIBF	serie	S043598	W0323051	624.6
31	346	Sébastien Roubinet	ADRENALINE	proto	S043046	W0323535	626.5
32	250	Brieuc Maisoneuve	PAYS GRANVILLAIS	serie	S042786	W0315976	649
33	345	Cécile Poujol	INFORMATIQUE ET STATISTIQUES	serie	S035770	W0314723	680.7
34	36	Peter de Smedt	HUYSMAN	proto	S035403	W0314286	686.3
35	245	Patrick Bot	FINIST'MER ECOLE NAVALE	serie	S033136	W0321436	687.4
36	175	Adam Seamans	SPIRIT OF AMERICA	serie	S045233	W0302941	688
37	388	Yves Niort	DEMI-CLE SHIPCHANDLER	serie	S034606	W0314771	690
38	295	David Sautret	MIKALOU SAILING	serie	S031901	W0320125	704.9
39	168	Fabrice Guillerm	RAULT LE SERVICE ALIMENTAIRE	serie	S032665	W0314873	705.4
40	321	Jean-Baptiste Pesquet Dejeanty	ARTECH - CAEN LA MER	proto	S032281	W0314233	712.1
41	135	Stéphane Ayrault	WYETH	proto	S032701	W0313105	715.1
42	329	Laurent Jaunin	TERRE-ET-FAUNE.ORG	serie	S033203	W0304708	737.3
43	444	Isabelle Magois	EDEN PARK	proto	S030103	W0310361	752.2
44	381	Gonzalo Botin	DON VITO	serie	S032203	W0303370	753.4
45	416	Daniel Schaffer	SENSIL	proto	S031136	W0302625	766.4
46	340	Rémi Beauvais	SPI CALL CENTER	serie	S022070	W0312421	773.9
47	373	Christophe Dary	YELLOW SUBMARINE	serie	S021641	W0311921	780.2
48	29	Arthur Barret	UBAYE	proto	S015843	W0312831	790.6
49	333	Arsène Ledertheil	AILES DU DESIR	proto	S020266	W0311535	793.9
50	34	Gustavo Pacheco	EPSILON	proto	S020483	W0303818	812.7
51	56	James Bird	ATOMIC	proto	S030066	W0292371	814.7
52	342	Alessandro Zamagna	ARKE	proto	S010280	W0314128	832.1
53	335	Barnabé Chivot	FTH THIRARD	proto	S010495	W0311613	842.7
54	89	Rémy Malburet	SOEUR MARIE THERESE DES BATIGNOLLES	serie	S001641	W0312128	882.4
55	371	Juan Carlos Sanchis Mari	SPASMOS	serie	N001291	W0305325	921.6
56	360	Henri Gourmelon	TOBABOOTS	serie	S002145	W0292536	939.2
57	277	François-Jacques Jauffrineau	VENDEE PRISMA	proto	N012936	W0310275	984.7
58	262	Eric Schmitt	LA LIMULE	serie	N015501	W0305498	1011
59	47	Bernard Morin	JOGGING INTERNATIONAL	serie	N034846	W0284741	1171
60	109	Gaspard Franeau	ZACK	proto	N041825	W0260225	1285
61	355	Jacques Valente	ACTION INNOCENCE	serie	N065733	W0265833	1389
NC	121	David Lancry	MENSURA FROST	proto	-	-
NC	138	Eric Defert	AMIRAL DE BRETAGNE	proto	-	-