Flying speed for now

But an area of extremely light wind lies immediately ahead for competitors in the Figaro's Transat AG2R

Positions at 09:48GMT

Pos	Nom	Crew	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Dist	DTF	DTL
					Inst		4hr av		24hr
1	Bostik	CAUDRELIER Charles/BERENGER Nicolas	38 51.60' N	14 42.30' W	9.3	194	9	200	9.4	225.5	3016.8	0
2	Cercle Vert	MORVAN Gildas/TABARLY Erwan	38 50.64' N	14 27.78' W	9.4	232	9.3	223	10	240.3	3018.7	1.9
3	ATAO Audio System	VITTET Dominic/LEMONCHOIS Lionel	38 47.58' N	14 11.40' W	9	231	9.9	225	10	239.4	3019.2	2.4
4	VEOLIA	JOURDAIN Roland/NELIAS Jean-Luc	38 53.40' N	14 32.28' W	8.2	223	8.9	208	9.8	234.5	3020.5	3.7
5	Suzuki Automobiles	DEFERT Eric/RIOU Gwen	38 53.70' N	14 31.62' W	9.4	186	9.1	188	9.7	233.8	3020.8	4
6	Brossard	DUTHIL Frédéric/MANUARD Samuel	38 56.04' N	14 30.66' W	9	190	9	192	9.8	235	3023.3	6.4
7	Les Mousquetaires	DE BROC Bertrand/PETIT Benoît	38 56.88' N	14 28.80' W	9	229	9.9	226	9.6	230.8	3024.6	7.8
8	Banque Populaire	GREGOIRE Jeanne/VENIARD Gérald	38 56.94' N	14 25.50' W	8.6	217	9.2	214	9.8	234.3	3025.2	8.4
9	E. Leclerc / Bouygues Telecom	DOUGUET Corentin/CHABAGNY Thierry	38 57.54' N	14 27.66' W	9.6	234	9.7	227	9.8	236.2	3025.4	8.6
10	Gédimat	TRIPON Armel/DROUGLAZET Eric	39 01.20' N	14 21.00' W	9.8	227	9.2	220	10	239.6	3026	9.2
11	Delta Dore	BEYOU Jérémie/RIOU Vincent	39 04.68' N	14 42.30' W	9.1	231	9.6	228	9.2	220.8	3029.7	12.9
12	Brit Air	LE CLEAC’H Armel/TROUSSEL Nicolas	39 03.06' N	14 30.06' W	8.2	195	9.3	219	10.2	244.6	3030.2	13.4
13	Groupe Bel	DE PAVANT  Kito/D’ALI Pietro	39 07.74' N	14 59.22' W	8.8	225	9.3	227	9.4	225.8	3030.5	13.7
14	Donneurs de Vie -  All Mer	MASLARD Stanislas/WARDLEY Liz	39 03.96' N	14 30.06' W	8.4	188	8.7	191	9.5	228	3031.1	14.3
15	Siemens	THIERCELIN Marc/KRAUSS Oliver	39 04.68' N	14 28.56' W	9	184	9	212	9.7	232.9	3032	15.2
16	Roxy	DAVIES Sam/BARRIER Alexia	39 09.48' N	14 46.14' W	9.7	225	9.3	222	9.9	236.5	3033.8	17
17	Aquarelle.com	BESTAVEN Yannick/GUERIN Ronan	38 43.38' N	12 52.32' W	10.2	215	9.5	211	8.8	211.4	3038.3	21.5
18	Groupe CELEOS	TREUSSART Ronan/ROUXEL Thomas	39 12.06' N	14 21.96' W	9.3	220	9.3	189	9.8	234.6	3040.5	23.7
19	Lubexcel	PELLET Jean-François/CASO Jean-Christophe	39 10.44' N	13 49.62' W	9.5	226	9.9	223	9.2	221.9	3046.1	29.3
20	Armor Lux / Salaün Holidays	ESCOFFIER Servane/LEBAS Christophe	39 24.90' N	14 36.72' W	8.2	240	9.4	229	8.9	213.7	3050.4	33.6
21	GUY HOQUET Immobilier	BOUVET Christophe/GOUEZIGOUX Laurent	39 29.28' N	14 48.06' W	8	202	9.8	228	9.3	222.9	3052.8	36
22	Entreprendre Au Pays de Lorient	LIVORY Yannig/FOUCHE Jean-François	39 28.68' N	12 59.22' W	10	227	11.1	224	10	241.1	3077.1	60.3
23	Des Pieds et des Mains	SEGUIN Damien/LEMAITRE Denis	39 05.28' N	11 42.66' W	10	209	9.7	207	9.5	227.4	3084.4	67.6
24	AXA Atout Coeur pour Aides	NIGON Erik/JOUANY Marc-Pacôme	40 02.28' N	14 05.46' W	10.2	219	9.4	226	8.9	213.3	3092.4	75.6
25	Port Olona	LE BAUT Jimmy/MONSEMPES Adrien	40 17.10' N	13 01.86' W	9.9	175	8.7	224	9.1	217.5	3121.2	104.4
26	Objectif Océans	PAVAGEAU Pierre-Emmanuel/BERTHO Nicolas	40 15.30' N	12 32.70' W	9	232	9.3	229	9.7	233.8	3128.2	111.4
27	Esprit 93	CHOMBART de LAUWE Marine/BRANGER Julien	42 00.90' N	9 12.18' W	3.2	83	3.6	81	-0.6	-13.7	3294.5	277.7
28	Virbac-Paprec	DICK Jean-Pierre/JOURDREN Bruno	42 13.98' N	8 44.58' W	0.1	34	0	0	0.4	9.4	3316.9	300.1

The two handed Figaros competing in the Transat AG2R are continuing to make superb progress south averaging around the 10 knot mark in northeasterly winds being generated thanks to the northerly position of the Azores high.

As ever the front runners remaining impressively tight with less than 10 miles separating the first ten boats after almost three days of racing with Gildas Morvan and Erwan Tabaly on Cercle Vert swapping the lead with Charles Caudrelier and Nicolas Berenger on Bostikand with the old timers Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nelias on Veolia and Dominique Vittet and Lionel Lemonchois on ATAO Audio System nipping at their heels. At present there is 42 miles from the most easterly to the most westerly of the leaders, although way out to the east on a dangerous flyer is the leader from 24 hours ago, Aquarelle.comsailed by young blades Yannick Bestaven and Ronan Guerin.

One of the most impressive risers in this particular hit parade is the 2004 winner Armel le Cleac'h and Nicolas Troussel on Brit Air, who have risen from 20th to 12th, more than halving their deficit on the leaders in the course of 24 hours. Not surprisingly they have notched up the highest 24 hour run of 244.6 miles. Conversely race favourites Jeremie Beyou and Vincent Riou on Delta Dore have dropped to 11th place.

Two retirements have been Marine Chombart de Lauwe and Julien Branger on Esprit 93 and Vendee Globe skipper Jean-Pierre Dick and Bruno Jourdren on Virbacboth due to rigging failure.

While the boats have been in for a blast since the start, making extremely good progress, this will not last. Still with 36o or so miles to go before the frontrunners reach the turning mark at Porto Santo, a small area of high pressure is developing before them and at present is forecast to be hovering directly over Madeira at around the time the boats are attempting to round it. This will open up the tactical options and is likely to mean a passage for a day or two as slow as the first few days have been quick. It may be for example that A quarelle.com's flier to the east could pay off. First to the turning mark is still very much a lottery.