And finally the gun

Transat AG2R sets sail

After having Saturday start postponed, the Figaro class' Transat AG2R finally got away this afternoon from Lorient at 1400 French time, the boats more heavily laden than anticipated now that the race merely passes a turning mark in Madeira rather than stopping there, before heading on to St Barts in the Caribbean.

In a 14 knot southwesterly wind, 30 of the 31 two-handed Figaros made it across the start line. Gerald Véniard and Yannick Bastaven on Charente Maritime-Scutum to had to head back to port due some technical problems and hoped to restart this evening.

On the line former Solitaire du Figaro winner Pascal Bidegorry and Sidney Gavignet were over and had to round the committee boat to restart. Going well alongside them were Jérémie Beyou and Kito de Pavant on Delta Dore, Armel Cléac'h and Nicolas Troussel on Group SCE Le Télégramme and Roldolphe Jacq and Bertrand de Broc on Skipper AG2R.

Leaders at the pin were Gildas Morvan-Dominic Vittet on Cercle Verte, Bruno Jourdren and Jean-Christophe Mourniac on D'Aucy or Jean-Paul Mouren and Alexandre Toulourge Marseilles Entreprises.

Once away the Beneteau Figaro headed for the turning mark and then had to left Ile de Groix to port.

At present it is too early to get a clear indication of who is leading, although nominally it is Marc Thiercelin and Eric Drouglazet on Trisel-Brokerline while Jeanne Gregoire and Sam Davies are two miles astern.

At present the boats are heading out of the Bay of Biscay towards Cape Finistere upwind into southwesterlies although this is due to veer to the west in the early hours of tomorrow moring. Tactically the skippers have an interesting chess game ahead of them over the next 48 hours - right now they can stay on starboard and wait to be lifted or they can stay on port and tack when the shift comes. Later tommorrow they will have to deal with a major high pressure whose centre is due to track across the north coast of Spain. Beyond this the situation becomes highly complex although the team's router would have provided them with some good data prior to their departure today.

Position at 1700 French time

Pos	Boat/crew	Boat	Lat	Long	DTF
1	Marc THIERCELIN Eric DROUGLAZET	TRISKEL-BROKERLINE	47 19 N	003 35 W	3695
2	Gildas MORVAN Dominique VITTET	CERCLE VERT	47 23 N	003 34 W	3695
3	Erwan TABARLY Jean Luc NELIAS	THALES	47 15 N	003 35 W	3696
4	Pascal BIDEGORRY Sidney GAVIGNET	BANQUE POPULAIRE	47 15 N	003 34 W	3696
5	Jérémie BEYOU Christophe de PAVANT	DELTA DORE	47 17 N	003 36 W	3696
6	Benoit PETIT Thierry CHABAGNY	DEFI SANTE VOILE	47 15 N	003 35 W	3696
7	Armel LE CLEAC'H Nicolas TROUSSEL	GROUPE SCE - LE TELEGRAMME	47 16 N	003 35 W	3696
8	Christophe ARTAUD Laurent PELLECUER	PETITS PETONS	47 19 N	003 34 W	3696
9	Romain ATTANASIO Nicolas BERENGER	PORT TREBEURDEN	47 19 N	003 33 W	3696
10	Lionel PEAN Florence ARTHAUD	L'ESPRIT D'EQUIPE	47 19 N	003 34 W	3696
11	Bruno JOURDREN Jean-Christophe MOURNIAC	D'AUCY	47 20 N	003 35 W	3696
12	Philippe MASSU Patrice CARPENTIER	GUYADER L'ESPRIT DE LA MER	47 21 N	003 36 W	3696
13	Rodolphe JACQ Bertrand de BROC	SKIPPER AG2R	47 16 N	003 34 W	3696
14	Jean-Paul MOUREN Alexandre TOULORGE	MARSEILLE ENTREPRISES	47 20 N	003 35 W	3696
15	Christian BOS Pierre-Yves MOREAU	RAYNAL ET ROQUELAURE	47 20 N	003 35 W	3696
16	Charles CAUDRELIER Antoine KOCH	BOSTIK FINDLEY	47 20 N	003 35 W	3696
17	Jeanne GREGOIRE Samantha DAVIES	Trophée BPE Saint-Nazaire - Cuba	47 21 N	003 36 W	3696
18	Marc LEPESQUEUX Bertrand LECHARPENTIER	MAISONS PIERRE	47 19 N	003 33 W	3696
19	Yannick CANO Arnaud BOISSIERES	BEZIERS MEDITERRANEE	47 20 N	003 34 W	3696
20	Armel TRIPON Damien GRIMONT	GEDIMAT	47 17 N	003 34 W	3696
21	Jean-Marc SPARFEL Benoit LEQUIN	GROUPE COUPECHOUX	47 17 N	003 35 W	3697
22	Yannig LIVORY Tangi CARON	ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT	47 18 N	003 36 W	3697
23	Alberto SPINA Olivier de ROFFIGNAC	MONACO MARINE GROUP	47 18 N	003 35 W	3697
	Christophe BOUVET Arnaud GUILLOUET	SOR TMC
25	Jan HAMESTER Jens HULSEBUSCH	SPACETIME	47 18 N	003 34 W	3697
26	Antonio Pedro DA CRUZ Olivier DE LA MOTTE	LITTLE BLACK SHARK	47 19 N	003 36 W	3697
27	Jean-Baptiste DEJEANTY Barnabé CHIVOT	FTH-THIRARD / CAEN LA MER	47 24 N	003 38 W	3698
28	Sander BAKKER Ian MUNSLOW	EGERIA	47 30 N	003 46 W	3700
29	Hervé FAVRE Guillaume NEU PIETRI	AURELIA FINANCE	47 32 N	003 49 W	3701
30	Jacques EINHORN Eric PERON	CONNIVENCE	47 34 N	003 50 W	3702
31	Gérald VENIARD Yannick BESTAVEN	CHARENTE-MARITIME SCUTUM	47 43 N	003 22 W	3716