Still upwind

Jérémie Beyou hangs on to the lead as Solitaire du Figaro skippers head for Cork

The Solitaire Affelou du Figaro skippers have now just completed their third night at sea and their third night upwind.

The boats are currently approaching the latitude of the Scilly Isles with the passage across the Celtic Sea ahead of them. Conditions continue to be on the nose all the boats at present on starboard having taken a hitch past Ushant and north towards the Cornish coast yesterday.

Race Director Christian Gout described the night's conditions: “We have had quick shifts that varied in intensity - between 14 and 25, even 35 in the middle of the night, for now it is more like between 12 and 18 knots.”

Jérémie Beyou on Delta Dore continues to lead the 43 boats and is now 1.8 miles ahead. In a race where elapsed time counts and the leaders are separated by seconds, this represents a handsome lead.

At present the boats are heading for a ridge hoping to get lifted on to a direct course to Cork. The leaders expect to arrive this afternoon.

Armel Le Cléac’h on Foncia TBS has taken a dramatically more westerly option while the leading pack placed in the middle consists of Yann Eliès on Groupe Generali Assurance, Charles Caudrelier on Bostik, Kito de Pavant on Group Bel and Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant. Gérald Veniard on Scutum and Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert have advance to the most easterly side of the pack searching for the best way round the ridge ahead.

Sam Davies on Skandia has pulled back up to sixth place, positioned in the middle group.

Positions at 0900

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Latitude	Longitude	Crs	Spd	DTF	DTL
1	BEYOU Jérémie	Delta Dore	49 35' 64' N	7 12' 36' W	295°	6.2	139.3
2	CAUDRELIER Charles	Bostik	49 33' 30' N	7 14' 76' W	298°	6.1	141.1	1.8
3	ELIES Yann	Groupe Generali Assurances	49 33' 78' N	7 11' 70' W	290°	6.3	141.2	1.9
4	de PAVANT Kito	Groupe Bel	49 33' 30' N	7 14' 52' W	296°	6.1	141.2	1.9
5	DESJOYEAUX Michel	Géant	49 32' 88' N	7 09' 60' W	292°	6.2	142.4	3.1
6	DAVIES Samantha	Skandia	49 31' 68' N	7 10' 44' W	291°	6.4	143.4	4.1
7	D'ALI Pietro	Nanni Diesel	49 32' 70' N	7 04' 62' W	293°	5.9	143.6	4.3
8	TABARLY Erwan	Thales	49 30' 48' N	7 11' 88' W	290°	6.2	144.3	5
9	PELLECUER Laurent	Cliptol Sport	49 31' 08' N	7 08' 16' W	292°	5.9	144.4	5.1
10	DUTHIL Frédéric	Brossard	49 30' 78' N	7 09' 42' W	290°	6.3	144.5	5.2
11	PETIT Benoit	Défi Santé Voile	49 29' 52' N	7 13' 38' W	292°	6.4	145	5.7
12	GREGOIRE Jeanne	Banque Populaire	49 29' 82' N	7 09' 00' W	293°	6.4	145.6	6.3
13	BESTAVEN Yannick	Aquarelle.com	49 31' 86' N	6 58' 68' W	296°	5.4	145.6	6.3
14	ATTANASIO Romain	MrBookmaker.com	49 29' 28' N	7 08' 58' W	294°	6.1	146.1	6.8
15	MOUREN Jean-Paul	M@rseillentreprises	49 29' 76' N	6 56' 64' W	292°	5.3	148.1	8.8
16	LEPESQUEUX Marc	Maisons Pierre	49 29' 04' N	6 55' 98' W	296°	5.4	148.9	9.6
17	MORVAN Gildas	Cercle Vert	49 36' 42' N	6 28' 32' W	298°	6.1	149.1	9.8
18	TROUSSEL Nicolas	All Mer	49 27' 18' N	7 02' 28' W	293°	6.3	149.3	10
19	WARDLEY Liz	Sojasun	49 28' 14' N	6 55' 98' W	288°	6.1	149.7	10.4
20	EMIG Marc	Total	49 28' 44' N	6 53' 28' W	287°	5.9	150	10.7
21	VITTET Dominic	ATAO Audio System	49 26' 46' N	7 01' 56' W	291°	6.4	150.1	10.8
22	DROUGLAZET Eric	Crédit Maritime	49 24' 00' N	7 10' 74' W	302°	5.9	150.8	11.5
23	CHABAGNY Thierry	Lèbre Bermudes	49 24' 00' N	7 01' 44' W	310°	7.9	152.5	13.2
24	TRIPON Armel	Gedimat	49 25' 92' N	6 49' 98' W	292°	6.1	153.1	13.8
25	BERENGER Nicolas	KONE Ascenseurs	49 25' 74' N	6 49' 44' W	289°	6	153.4	14.1
26	SVILARICH Etienne	Sogeti	49 33' 36' N	6 17' 82' W	298°	5.7	155	15.7
27	RIECHERS Jorg	Germanytoo	49 26' 76' N	6 35' 52' W	291°	5.6	155.9	16.6
28	ROGNON Cyrille	ENO & Navi Line	49 17' 40' N	7 01' 62' W	299°	5.7	158.8	19.5
29	VENIARD Gérald	Scutum	49 39' 66' N	5 47' 94' W	301°	5.8	159.9	20.6
30	SEVAUX Stéphane	Sarthe	49 15' 78' N	7 02' 40' W	299°	5.9	160.2	20.9
31	PEAN Lionel	L'Esprit d'Equipe	49 36' 54' N	5 52' 56' W	296°	6	160.7	21.4
32	THETIOT Sébastien	Déclic Morbihan	49 16' 68' N	6 46' 14' W	289°	6	162.7	23.4
33	LE CLEAC'H Armel	Foncia-TBS	49 07' 08' N	7 38' 52' W	294°	6	163.6	24.3
34	BIGOT Gaël	Team 117	49 12' 66' N	6 48' 78' W	291°	6.3	165.9	26.6
35	LE GAL Franck	Lenze	49 05' 04' N	7 29' 46' W	301°	6.5	166.5	27.2
36	KRAUSS Oliver	Espoir Crédit Agricole	49 03' 36' N	7 40' 44' W	291°	5.9	167.1	27.8
37	CASO Jean Christophe	Groupe STEC / Charente Maritime	49 09' 54' N	6 51' 36' W	290°	6.1	168.3	29
38	AUDIGANE Sébastien	D'Aucy Cultive la vie	49 08' 22' N	6 56' 40' W	295°	6.3	168.5	29.2
39	DEFERT Eric	Amiral de Bretagne - Suzuki	49 09' 72' N	6 44' 10' W	288°	6.2	169.7	30.4
40	BOUVET Christophe	Bo Travail !	48 56' 40' N	6 58' 98' W	315°	5.9	172.8	33.5
41	FOURNIER FOCH Thierry	Cortal Consors	48 48' 00' N	7 32' 52' W	281°	6.4	183.1	43.8
42	BOUGARD Patrice	Kogane	48 47' 76' N	7 24' 00' W	282°	5.8	184.2	44.9
43	NABART Laurent	Corsica	48 29' 94' N	7 17' 46' W	43°	6	202.5	63.2
ABD	ALFARO Amaiur	www.pays-basque-entreprises.com	-		°
ABD	BOS Christian	Raynal et Roquelaure	-		°
ABD	EINHORN Jacques	Connivence	-		°