South pays

As Transat AG2R fleet close to within 1000 miles of St Barts

Positions at 0300GMT:

Pos	Boat	Crew	Lat	Long	DTF
1	GROUPE SCE - LE TELEGRAMME	Armel LE CLEAC\'H Nicolas TROUSSEL	21 04 N	046 51 W	924
2	BANQUE POPULAIRE	Pascal BIDEGORRY Sidney GAVIGNET	22 15 N	046 55 W	935
3	PORT TREBEURDEN	Romain ATTANASIO Nicolas BERENGER	22 15 N	046 42 W	946
4	Trophée BPE Saint-Nazaire - Cuba	Jeanne GREGOIRE Samantha DAVIES	23 10 N	046 56 W	948
5	BOSTIK FINDLEY	Charles CAUDRELIER Antoine KOCH	22 52 N	046 49 W	949
6	CERCLE VERT	Gildas MORVAN Dominic VITTET	23 56 N	047 08 W	952
7	DELTA DORE	Jérémie BEYOU Christophe de PAVANT	23 52 N	046 56 W	961
8	GEDIMAT	Armel TRIPON Damien GRIMONT	25 20 N	046 46 W	1001
9	PETITS PETONS	Christophe ARTAUD Laurent PELLECUER	22 56 N	045 39 W	1012
10	GUYADER L'ESPRIT DE LA MER	Philippe MASSU Patrice CARPENTIER	22 01 N	045 08 W	1017
11	TRISKEL-BROKERLINE	Marc THIERCELIN Eric DROUGLAZET	21 16 N	045 09 W	1021
12	GROUPE COUPECHOUX	Jean-Marc SPARFEL Benoit LEQUIN	22 25 N	045 20 W	1023
13	THALES	Erwan TABARLY Jean Luc NELIAS	22 08 N	045 14 W	1025
14	MAISONS PIERRE	Marc LEPESQUEUX Bertrand LECHARPENTIER	23 59 N	045 45 W	1025
15	SKIPPER AG2R	Rodolphe JACQ Bertrand de BROC	22 38 N	045 10 W	1034
16	CHARENTE-MARITIME SCUTUM	Gérald VENIARD Yannick BESTAVEN	22 33 N	044 39 W	1061
17	ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT	Yannig LIVORY Tangi CARON	23 56 N	044 55 W	1067
18	MARSEILLE ENTREPRISES	Jean-Paul MOUREN Alexandre TOULORGE	23 47 N	044 47 W	1072
19	DEFI SANTE VOILE	Benoit PETIT Thierry CHABAGNY	22 29 N	044 09 W	1075
20	D'AUCY	Bruno JOURDREN Jean-Christophe MOURNIAC	22 37 N	044 25 W	1075
21	MONACO MARINE GROUP	Alberto SPINA Olivier de ROFFIGNAC	24 06 N	043 54 W	1112
22	RAYNAL ET ROQUELAURE	Christian BOS Pierre-Yves MOREAU	23 09 N	043 30 W	1120
23	BEZIERS MEDITERRANEE	Yannick CANO Arnaud BOISSIERES	23 17 N	043 27 W	1124
24	FTH-THIRARD / CAEN LA MER	Jean-Baptiste DEJEANTY Barnabé CHIVOT	23 02 N	043 14 W	1132
25	CONNIVENCE	Jacques EINHORN Eric PERON	24 20 N	043 30 W	1137
26	EGERIA	Sander BAKKER Ian MUNSLOW	24 08 N	043 30 W	1145
27	L'ESPRIT D'EQUIPE	Lionel PEAN Florence ARTHAUD	25 57 N	043 01 W	1192
28	SOR TMC	Christophe BOUVET Arnaud GUILLOUET	25 09 N	041 29 W	1256
29	AURELIA FINANCE	Hervé FAVRE Guillaume NEU PIETRI	23 55 N	041 03 W	1261
30	SPACETIME	Jan HAMESTER Jens HULSEBUSCH	23 50 N	041 04 W	1261
31	LITTLE BLACK SHARK	Antonio Pedro DA CRUZ Olivier DE LA MOTTE	23 00 N	037 42 W	1432

The formation flying pattern that the leaders in the Transat AG2R are taking across the Atlantic to St Barts has continued over the last 24 hours with the boats to the south benefitting from stronger trade winds conditions. As a result the race now has a new leaders in the form of Solitaire du Figaro winner Armel le Cleac'h and Nicholas Troussel who this morning hold and 11 mile lead over Pascal Bidegorry and Sidney Gavignet on board Banque Populaire. Sam Davies and Jeanne Gregoire have moved up to fourth place 24 miles behind the leader.

There remains a big north-south divide between the leaders with Le Cleac'h taking the most extreme south route while Armel Tripon is some 350 miles due north. For the competitors the weekend will see some highly tactical racing as the depression to the northwest creates a large hole on the direct course to St Barts. If he stays on his present course Armel Tripon for example will see the wind veer round to the southwest, on the nose, by Saturday...

At present Le Cleac'h choice of a southerly route is looking more promising with the favourable - albeit light - winds over the weekend. Sam Davies and Jeanne Gregoire are at present heading for the windless zone so we can probably expect to see them duck further south over the next 48 hours.