Light winds ahead

An update on the Figaro's Transat AG2R

Positions at 09:48GMT

Pos	Boat	Skippers	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	24hr	DTF	DTL
					Inst	4hr av
1	VEOLIA	JOURDAIN Roland/NELIAS Jean-Luc	36 22.32' N	15 59.46' W	7.1	200	8	186	182	2860	0
2	ATAO Audio System	VITTET Dominic/LEMONCHOIS Lionel	36 22.32' N	15 44.46' W	6.8	194	7.7	188	180	2861.3	1.2
3	Cercle Vert	MORVAN Gildas/TABARLY Erwan	36 23.58' N	15 55.98' W	7.5	187	7.8	186	177.1	2861.5	1.5
4	Bostik	CAUDRELIER Charles/BERENGER Nicolas	36 22.08' N	15 40.20' W	5.7	174	7	190	178.9	2861.6	1.5
5	Groupe Bel	DE PAVANT  Kito/D’ALI Pietro	36 27.78' N	15 49.56' W	8	187	7.6	186	183.3	2866.3	6.3
6	Delta Dore	BEYOU Jérémie/RIOU Vincent	36 29.46' N	15 48.66' W	7.5	186	8	187	181.1	2867.9	7.9
7	Gédimat	TRIPON Armel/DROUGLAZET Eric	36 30.60' N	15 42.54' W	7.9	186	7.2	182	176.7	2869.6	9.6
8	Aquarelle.com	BESTAVEN Yannick/GUERIN Ronan	36 14.22' N	14 30.30' W	7.4	204	6.7	195	192	2870.5	10.4
9	Les Mousquetaires	DE BROC Bertrand/PETIT Benoît	36 29.88' N	15 21.06' W	6.8	188	6.1	177	173.2	2872.1	12
10	Suzuki Automobiles	DEFERT Eric/RIOU Gwen	36 30.18' N	15 22.02' W	6.5	185	6	177	171	2872.2	12.2
11	Brossard	DUTHIL Frédéric/MANUARD Samuel	36 30.06' N	15 21.30' W	6.4	187	6	177	174.2	2872.2	12.2
12	E. Leclerc / Bouygues Telecom	DOUGUET Corentin/CHABAGNY Thierry	36 30.42' N	15 23.10' W	6.7	175	6.2	177	173.5	2872.2	12.2
13	Banque Populaire	GREGOIRE Jeanne/VENIARD Gérald	36 30.54' N	15 20.82' W	6.7	195	5.9	183	173.6	2872.7	12.7
14	Brit Air	LE CLEAC’H Armel/TROUSSEL Nicolas	36 40.74' N	16 04.02' W	6.1	190	6.7	196	173.3	2878.2	18.2
15	Roxy	DAVIES Sam/BARRIER Alexia	36 42.36' N	16 00.54' W	7	187	6.7	192	174.1	2880.1	20
16	Siemens	THIERCELIN Marc/KRAUSS Oliver	36 43.38' N	15 59.28' W	7.5	186	6.8	191	172.9	2881	21
17	Lubexcel	PELLET Jean-François/CASO Jean-Christophe	36 40.68' N	15 03.48' W	8.1	187	8	188	182.6	2886	25.9
18	Groupe CELEOS	TREUSSART Ronan/ROUXEL Thomas	36 47.58' N	15 49.32' W	8.8	194	7.1	194	177.5	2886	26
19	Donneurs de Vie - All Mer	MASLARD Stanislas/WARDLEY Liz	36 53.76' N	16 08.10' W	6.4	200	5.5	213	162.7	2891.1	31.1
20	GUY HOQUET Immobilier	BOUVET Christophe/GOUEZIGOUX Laurent	36 51.24' N	15 18.72' W	9	190	7	188	179.6	2893.2	33.2
21	Armor Lux / Salaün Holidays	ESCOFFIER Servane/LEBAS Christophe	37 00.12' N	15 52.74' W	8.7	191	7.1	193	170.5	2898.1	38
22	Des Pieds et des Mains	SEGUIN Damien/LEMAITRE Denis	36 46.20' N	14 01.68' W	6.8	238	7.4	226	199.2	2909.3	49.3
23	AXA Atout Coeur pour Aides	NIGON Erik/JOUANY Marc-Pacôme	37 26.94' N	16 00.60' W	9.2	187	8.3	186	189.5	2924.4	64.4
24	Entreprendre Au Pays de Lorient	LIVORY Yannig/FOUCHE Jean-François	37 13.56' N	14 32.04' W	18.4	294	4.2	215	182.2	2925.4	65.4
25	Port Olona	LE BAUT Jimmy/MONSEMPES Adrien	37 27.66' N	13 07.98' W	6.9	205	6.4	203	176	2966.4	106.4
26	Objectif Océans	PAVAGEAU Pierre-Emmanuel/BERTHO Nicolas	38 03.12' N	14 14.22' W	7.6	175	7.7	185	172.5	2976.4	116.4
27	Esprit 93	CHOMBART de LAUWE Marine/BRANGER Julien	42 07.38' N	8 50.76' W	0.1	34	0	313	-19.8	3308.8	448.8
28	Virbac-Paprec	DICK Jean-Pierre/JOURDREN Bruno	42 13.98' N	8 44.58' W	0	0	0	34	0	3316.9	456.8

Four days into the Figaro class' Transat AG2R and still there is only 12.2 miles separation between the first 12 boats. However aside from Bestaven and Guerin on a flier out to the east and Liz Wardley and Stan Maslard out to the west, the bulk of the fleet remain locked together in a race track 35 miles across. Unfortunately overnight Wardley and Maslard reported they had broken their forestay (the third to have gone in this race so far). They plan to stop in Madeira.

Between the top four boats competition remains insanely close with Vendee Globe skipper Roland Jourdain and former 60ft trimaran skipper Jean Luc Nelias taking the lead on Veolia.

As the wind has got lighter so speeds have dropped down to 8 knots average for the front runners.

At present 200 miles remains to go until the leaders round the turning mark at Porto Santo, Madeira. At their present speed this should get them round tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. However the forecast is not looking that promising as the wind looks set to disappear over the course of tonight. The present forecast indicates that this might favour the boats out to the west, but the situation looks highly volatile with light patches also forecast for when the boats have rounded the turning mark.