Still truckin'

An update from the Figaro class' Transat AG2R

Positions at 05:01

Pos	Boat	Crew	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Dist	DTF	DTL
					Inst		4hr		24hr
1	Cercle Vert	MORVAN Gildas/TABARLY Erwan	29 41.10' N	26 06.84' W	7.8	254	8.0	264.0	7.9	190.3	2129.4	0.0
2	E. Leclerc / Bouygues Telecom	DOUGUET Corentin/CHABAGNY Thierry	29 58.56' N	26 10.44' W	7.9	263	7.9	267.0	8.0	192.0	2129.7	0.3
3	Aquarelle.com	BESTAVEN Yannick/GUERIN Ronan	27 55.26' N	25 31.02' W	9.9	247	8.2	230.0	7.3	175.5	2142.9	13.4
4	Les Mousquetaires	DE BROC Bertrand/PETIT Benoît	30 46.62' N	25 57.72' W	7.8	271	7.5	272.0	7.4	178.7	2150.4	20.9
5	Banque Populaire	GREGOIRE Jeanne/VENIARD Gérald	28 26.82' N	25 27.42' W	8.7	256	8.9	255.0	8.1	195.2	2150.6	21.2
6	Brit Air	LE CLEAC’H Armel/TROUSSEL Nicolas	27 33.96' N	25 13.08' W	8.1	220	8.4	214.0	6.9	164.6	2155.8	26.3
7	Groupe Bel	DE PAVANT  Kito/D’ALI Pietro	28 02.04' N	25 12.78' W	9.8	249	8.2	247.0	7.6	182.7	2159.8	30.3
8	Brossard	DUTHIL Frédéric/MANUARD Samuel	29 23.70' N	25 19.44' W	8.6	215	8.2	218.0	7.1	171.4	2166.8	37.4
9	Delta Dore	BEYOU Jérémie/RIOU Vincent	28 00.36' N	25 03.66' W	8.7	229	8.5	224.0	7.4	178.6	2167.5	38.1
10	VEOLIA	JOURDAIN Roland/NELIAS Jean-Luc	27 52.80' N	24 59.28' W	9.1	216	8.7	217.0	7.3	175.8	2170.4	40.9
11	Groupe CELEOS	TREUSSART Ronan/ROUXEL Thomas	29 00.84' N	25 08.82' W	8.5	260	8.7	259.0	7.6	182.1	2172.1	42.7
12	Gédimat	TRIPON Armel/DROUGLAZET Eric	29 08.46' N	25 05.64' W	8.3	214	7.8	217.0	6.5	154.9	2176.1	46.7
13	Suzuki Automobiles	DEFERT Eric/RIOU Gwen	29 27.18' N	25 07.32' W	7.9	235	7.9	246.0	7.4	177.6	2177.8	48.4
14	Lubexcel	PELLET Jean-François/CASO Jean-Christophe	29 17.28' N	25 02.10' W	8.0	215	7.1	237.0	7.9	188.9	2180.7	51.2
15	ATAO Audio System	VITTET Dominic/LEMONCHOIS Lionel	26 58.86' N	24 10.44' W	8.5	212	8.1	241.0	7.4	178.2	2207.0	77.5
16	Roxy	DAVIES Sam/BARRIER Alexia	27 29.82' N	24 13.80' W	9.7	262	8.1	242.0	6.3	151.5	2207.4	77.9
17	Des Pieds et des Mains	SEGUIN Damien/LEMAITRE Denis	28 17.22' N	24 11.88' W	7.9	219	8.4	216.0	6.5	156.4	2215.1	85.7
18	GUY HOQUET Immobilier	BOUVET Christophe/GOUEZIGOUX Laurent	28 38.82' N	24 11.22' W	8.8	250	8.7	257.0	7.0	169.0	2218.6	89.2
19	AXA Atout Coeur pour Aides	NIGON Erik/JOUANY Marc-Pacôme	28 11.70' N	24 02.22' W	8.2	213	8.3	217.0	6.9	165.2	2222.8	93.4
20	Siemens	THIERCELIN Marc/KRAUSS Oliver	26 05.22' N	23 37.80' W	9.5	250	9.3	238.0	7.6	181.5	2231.1	101.6
21	Entreprendre Au Pays de Lorient	LIVORY Yannig/FOUCHE Jean-François	27 02.16' N	23 31.14' W	8.2	258	8.2	218.0	6.5	156.8	2242.1	112.7
22	Objectif Océans	PAVAGEAU Pierre-Emmanuel/BERTHO Nicolas	29 48.12' N	22 38.88' W	7.9	220	7.8	218.0	6.6	159.6	2308.6	179.1
23	Port Olona	LE BAUT Jimmy/MONSEMPES Adrien	28 58.80' N	22 07.86' W	8.5	252	8.0	253.0	8.1	193.8	2328.4	199.0
24	Donneurs de Vie -  All Mer	MASLARD Stanislas/WARDLEY Liz	27 00.54' N	21 28.50' W	11.0	256	11.0	253.0	7.0	167.4	2350.7	221.3
ABD	Armor Lux / Salaün Holidays	ESCOFFIER Servane/LEBAS Christophe
NL	Bostik	CAUDRELIER Charles/BERENGER Nicolas
ABD	Esprit 93	CHOMBART de LAUWE Marine/BRANGER Julien
ABD	Virbac-Paprec	DICK Jean-Pierre/JOURDREN Bruno

Competition continues to remain intense and close in the Transat AG2R where this morning Gildas Morvan and Erwan Tabarly on Cercle Vert have pulled out a lead (that could be bearly called a lead) of 0.3nm over former Mini sailor Corentin Douguet and Thierry Chabagny on E. Leclerc/Bouygues Telecom, yesterday's leaders Yannick Bestaven and Ronan Guerin on Aquarelle.com now down to third. However the distance to finish stats perhaps don't accurately reflect what is going on with the weather. The Azores high is parked directly to the north of the fleet and while the boats furthest north and closest to the great circle, such as this morning's top two, appear to be leading, the money is still on Aquarelle.com down south, theoretically sailing in better pressure (her instance speed above confirms this, even if her 4 hour average speed doesn't).

Aquarelle is in a tightly knit group down south with 2004 race winner Armel Le Cleac'h and Nicolas Troussel on BritAir some 26 miles out to port and with Bel Group and race favourites Delta Dore , sailed by last year's Solitaure du Figaro winner Jeremie Beyou and Vendee Globe winner Vincent Riou, 18 and 26 miles astern of her respectively. Sam Davies and Alexia Barrier on board Roxy are doing some corner banging at the moment, further out to the left hand side of the course still.

The leaders are now some 540 miles beyond the turning mark at Porto Santo, the most northeasterly island in the Madeira group. First around here were Armel Cléac'h and Nicolas Troussel on Brit Air who had edged ahead of Aquarelle.com in the ultra-light conditions - their separation: just three minutes.They were followed around the mark a minute later by Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nelias on Veolia. The first five boats rounded the mark in the space of just 12 minutes (this is after five days of racing remember), the first 11 in less than an hour and the first 21 in 3 hours 30 minutes.

After the turning mark competitors were faced with the decision of whether to go north or south of Madeira's main island. Brit Air took the former option followed by Cercle Vert and E.Leclerc-Bouygues Telecom, while the majority took the route south including Aquarelle.com, Banque Populaire, Bostik, Veolia, Delta Dore, and Groupe Bel.