Calm before the storm

Transat leaders prepare for the big storm

Positions at 1500GMT

Pos	Boat	DTF	DTL	VMG	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs
	ORMA 60s						1hr av		4hr av
1	GEANT	2023.1	0.0	20.2	51 39.72' N	22 08.82' W	20.9	290	22.0	291.0
2	SODEBO	2032.5	9.3	23.8	51 19.00' N	21 33.00' W	24.3	286	22.9	288.0
3	SOPRA GROUP	2067.3	44.1	20.2	51 23.64' N	20 59.04' W	20.3	281	20.3	284.0
4	BANQUE POPULAIRE	2076.6	53.5	21.7	51 09.48' N	20 44.94' W	23	296	22.2	298.0
5	GROUPAMA	2079.2	56.1	20.4	51 16.72' N	20 40.12' W	20.9	289	20.7	290.0
6	TIM-PROGETTO ITALIA	2095.7	72.6	21.5	51 00.40' N	20 15.40' W	22.1	290	20.4	288.0
7	FONCIA	2107.8	84.7	22.2	51 56.80' N	19 59.88' W	23	291	22.2	293.0
8	BANQUE COVEFI	2126.1	103.0	20.0	51 07.64' N	19 26.68' W	21.5	298	17.3	296.0
9	SERGIO TACCHINI	2175.3	152.2	19.6	50 27.52' N	18 16.56' W	19.7	285	12.0	286.0
10	GITANA XI	2176.8	153.7	19.7	50 57.30' N	18 08.16' W	20	287	19.8	290.0
11	MEDIATIS REGION AQUITAINE	2229.5	206.4	14.1	51 04.04' N	16 57.48' W	14.2	286	15.0	285.0
ABD	GITANA  X
	Open 60s
1	VIRBAC	2266.2	0.0	11.4	50 38.16' N	15 55.92' W	11.6	289	12.2	288.0
2	ECOVER	2297.1	30.9	13.0	50 51.44' N	15 01.56' W	13.7	299	12.7	292.0
3	PINDAR ALPHAGRAPHICS	2303.0	36.8	11.6	50 41.92' N	15 05.08' W	11.6	280	11.8	279.0
4	TEMENOS	2303.3	37.1	11.0	50 16.88' N	15 11.60' W	11.2	292	11.5	288.0
5	PRB	2307.4	41.2	11.7	50 47.32' N	14 47.28' W	11.8	290	12.1	291
6	CHEMINEES POUJOULAT-ARMOR LUX	2312.9	46.8	11	50 39.28' N	14 41.08' W	11.7	299	11.5	294
7	VMI	2327.6	61.4	11.2	50 13.00' N	14 25.20' W	11.2	279	10.5	274
8	PRO-FORM	2327.7	61.5	10.8	50 11.40' N	14 25.88' W	10.9	271	10.6	264
9	HELLOMOTO	2331.4	65.3	10.5	50 36.24' N	14 20.60' W	10.6	285	10.7	284
10	SKANDIA	2346.2	80	11.5	50 31.40' N	13 58.96' W	11.6	278	10.8	288
11	UUDS	2389.9	123.7	5.9	49 13.92' N	13 09.96' W	7.2	247	7.3	249
12	QUIKSILVER EDITION	2405.2	139.1	8.2	50 17.68' N	12 22.20' W	8.2	276	5.9	284
13	AUSTRIA ONE	2436.1	169.9	6.1	49 14.92' N	11 56.80' W	6.2	291	3.6	292
14	OBJECTIF 3	2446.7	180.6	0.9	48 04.88' N	12 11.44' W	0.9	275	1	303
15	ATLANTICA-CHARENTES MARITIMES	2486.2	220.1	5.5	49 24.52' N	10 34.48' W	5.8	264	6.8	268
	50ft multis
1	TRILOGIC	2295	0	12.6	50 20.12' N	15 13.88' W	12.6	280	13.5	277
2	CREPES WHAOU !	2334.6	39.7	14.8	51 36.16' N	13 59.36' W	15.4	296	12.8	300
3	GIFI	2402.4	107.4	7.8	49 57.28' N	12 33.92' W	7.8	280	6.4	285
4	PIR2	2467.4	172.5	0.3	48 29.32' N	11 29.52' W	0.3	291	1.8	228
5	GREAT AMERICAN II	2479.6	184.6	2.1	49 35.28' N	10 45.24' W	3	329	1.9	304
6	NOOTKA	2484.6	189.6	1.7	48 36.56' N	10 58.76' W	2.7	234	4.9	247
	Open 50s
1	ARTFORMS	2392	0	7.2	50 17.28' N	12 38.94' W	7.5	266	6	273
2	WELL FARGO-AMERICAN PIONEER	2412.7	20.7	7.5	49 54.16' N	12 18.84' W	7.5	276	5.1	284
3	OKAMI	2438.7	46.7	5	50 18.52' N	11 34.96' W	5.7	312	4.9	319
4	BRANEC III	2466.2	74.2	2.1	48 35.84' N	11 29.16' W	2.2	285	1.5	254

When Blondie Hasler originally conceived the OSTAR (as The Transat was previously known) the idea was for the event to be a challenge, hence it is not fully crewed nor does it run in the same direction as the prevailing wind conditions. The competitors in the 2004 race are to receive first hand experience of what Hasler had in mind, as in the next 24-48 hours they will experience their first major North Atlantic gale of the race complete with 50 knot headwinds and giant waves coming from exactly the direction they want to sail.

All the competitors are aware of the impending weather and will be doing all they can to ensure that they can not only survive it, but remain competitive. On the 60ft multihulls skippers have the benefit of being able to talk to shore-based routers who can advise them of the best course of action. Interestingly projecting the tracks of the boats forwards they all seem to converge on a point immediately to the south of where the depression is expected to pass. This should allow them to sail into the depression with southwest and then tack on the shift to the northwest. (Update - in fact the latest weather information shows that the depression will be centred around 52degN 38W 24 hours from now - so the leading multihulls should be able to sail around the top of it...)

The IMOCA monohulls routing is prohibited and this is entirely down to the skipper who are able to use 'publicly available' weather sources such as websites with meteorologicial information. This is not so much of a problem as there is little chance that they will be able to use the depression the multis are using to their advantage and as it drifts off to the north they will face

Over the last 24 hours the conditions they have been experiencing could not have been more different to what lies ahead as the boats have tackled the light winds found in a high pressure ridge. The ORMA 60 multihulls are now through this as are the monohull frontrunners, but those further back are having less luck.

On board Skandia lying in a disappointing 10th position Nick Moloney summed up his situation: "Full keel, desperately trying to get out of this ridge with the others...need a bit of luck over the next few days." For those that are through the ridge the wind is building and it is a high speed day. At the 1300GMT position update for example the two leading multihulls had both averaged more than 22 knots for the previous four hours.
The race across the Atlantic is not merely a game of tactics and staying awake for as long as possible. The greatest distraction from racing is when breakage or damage occurs. Some competitors have been experiencing technical problems. Most notable of these is Mike Golding who confirmed today that the engine driving the hydraulics for Ecover's keel canting mechanism had "fried" and was unfixable. He has mastered a technique by which he can haul the sheets in and heel the boat as much as possible before dropping the keel down. With the boat at a crazy angle he then throws the helm over to go on to the new tack. But in the light conditions in the high pressure ridge Golding says he suffered from not being able to heel his boat over enough. His situation is now improving as the wind builds and he has since recovered second place in the monohull class from Mike Sanderson's Pindar AlphaGraphics, which has now dropped back to fourth.

Today has seen a spate of boats damaged through collisions with floating objects. This morning Groupama skipper Franck Cammas reported that he had collided with a whale that brought the boat to a halt. His boat's daggerboard is still intact but there is some superficial damage to the board's case.

Both Karine Fauconnier and Yves Parlier in the 60ft multihulls class have admitted collisions with large submerged pieces of wood that have hit their rudders. Fortunately, on Fauconnier's trimaran Sergio Tacchini the centre of her three rudders is fitted with a safety system that allows the rudder to 'pop up' in the event of a collision. This worked but Fauconnier said she had lost 1.5 hours securing the rudder back in its 'down' position. Parlier was not so lucky as his collision at 20 knots shattered the aft side of his starboard daggerboard.

Most recently Swiss skipper Steve Ravussin has reported that his main rudder (the trimarans have three, one on each hull) has broken. Ravussin says that he is continuing.

In the respective fights for first place, Michel Desjoyeaux's Geant took over the lead in the early hours of this morning from Thomas Coville's Sodebo in the multihulls while Transat Jacques Vabre winner Jean-Paul Dick on board Virbac has extended his by 30 miles ahead of Golding's Ecover over the course of the last 24 hours.

Among the 50 footers, Eric Bruneel's slick trimaran Trilogic has doubled her lead over Franck-Yves Escoffier's Crepes Whaou, while American Kip Stone's Open 50 monohull Artforms has extended her lead over Wells Fargo-American Pioneer of Joe Harris. In the battle between the two Irens 50ft trimarans Rich Wilson on Great American II overtook race veteran Mike Birch aboard Nootka in the early hours of this morning.

1700GMT positions of Geant and Mike Golding's Ecover superimposed over a Quikscat wind radar chart.