In the bag for Brossard

Exceptional win for Adrien Hardy in the Mini's Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables race

Finishers

Pos.	Boat	Skipper
1	348 - Bretagne Lapins	David SINEAU	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 09:38:14 (08j 19h 58min 14s)
2	198 - Brossard	Adrien HARDY	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 10:15:18 (08j 20h 35min 18s)
3	510 - Adria Mobil Too	Andraz MIHELIN	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 11:55:54 (08j 22h 15min 54s)
4	276 - Degrémont	Isabelle JOSCHKE	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 12:12:20 (08j 22h 32min 20s)
5	454 - Areas Assurances	François SALABERT	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 13:03:09 (08j 23h 23min 09s)
6	626 - Escar l'escala/c.n.llanca	Gérard MARIN	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 14:53:04 (09j 01h 13min 04s)
7	617 - Soitec	Fabien DESPRES	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 14:55:18 (09j 01h 15min 18s)
8	419 - Rafiki	Nicholas BRENNAN	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 20:38:01 (09j 06h 58min 01s)
9	618 - Ecover	Peter LAUREYSSENS	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 20:42:25 (09j 07h 02min 25s)
10	509 - Adria Mobil	Kristian HAJNSEK	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 22:34:12 (09j 08h 54min 12s)
11	518 - Jules	Hervé PIVETEAU	Arrived 25/08/2006 at 23:59:12 (09j 10h 19min 12s)

Bretagne Lapins and her skipper David Sineau has crossed the finish line Firday morning to win the second leg between of the Mini class' Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables race from Horta and Les Sables d’Olonne. Fourth in the Azores, David Sineau is sure to be on the podium overall and can even hope to jump on the second place overall once the cumulative times for both legs is calculated.

In a southeesterly of 5-8 knots which was clearly decreased on the approach to the Vendée coast, Sineau's 2001 Magnen-Nivelt design crossed the finish line under jib and mainsail. Sineau, a 33 year old entrepreneur specialising in renewable energy, from Argentueil, arrived at 09:38:14GMT, after a tough battle over the last night between seven boats all capable of winning this second leg! It took 8 days 19 hours 58 minutes 14 seconds for him to complete the 1,270 miles between Horta and the Vendée.

Sineau managed to break away on the final night to get some ten miles ahead of second placed Adrien Hardy on Brossard come Friday morning: not enough to take the first place overall. Bretagne Lapins was fourth into the Azores, 2h 36m 02s’ after Brossard. This was enough for him to take the second place overall ahead of Slovenian sailor Andraz Mihelin ( Adria Mobil Too) who was twenty miles behind the leader on this leg, and was only one hour and 23 minutes beind Mihelin into Horta.

In arriving second on this second leg between the Azores and Les Sables d'Olonne, just over half an hour after the winner David Sineau, Adrien Hardy has won the first ever Mini race Les Sables-Les Açores-Les Sables. The 22 year old skipper of Brossard from Nantes and who was fifth in last year's Mini Transat and is a former French 420 and J/22 champion, sailed a very clever race that saw him lose places as he bravely crossed the ridge dividing the fleet north-south. During the first leg to the Azores he sailed a 256.84 mile day at an average speed of 10.70 knots!

Hardy arrived at 10:15:18GMT, just 37 minutes after Sineau. Thus he won overall by almost two hours.

The fight for third place was a tense one, but finally the Andraz Mihelin took the final place on the podium for leg two in front of Isabelle Joschke and François Salabert, less than an hour separating these at the finish line. Spain's Gerard Marin, who sailed a fantastic race taking a northerly option the moment he set sail from the Azores, is the easy leader in the Series fleet, was next home ahead of Fabien Despres..

Thanks to his third place into Les Sables d'Olonne Andraz Mihelin takes third place overall, followed by Franco-German sailor Isabelle Joschke.

Ecover skipper Peter Laureyssens had a disappointing finish, arriving in ninth after suffering electrical problems - with no more GPS, no automatic pilot and reaching the Vendée coast at Noirmoutier island was forced to sail up the coast to Les Sables d'Olonne.

Positions of those still at sea at 0300GMT

Pos.	Boat	Skipper	Lat.	Long.	Spd	Crs	DTF	DTL
12 (0)	260 - Negawatt	Olivier CUSIN	46°28.50 N	001°47.70 W	5.9	112	1.03	1.03
13 (0)	424 - PCO Technologies	Ronan DESHAYES	46°27.12 N	002°00.90 W	8	88	9.01	9.01
14 (0)	432 - Carben composites	Xavier HAIZE	46°30.66 N	002°13.62 W	5.4	117	17.5	17.5
15 (0)	607 - BPI	Francisco LOBATO	46°26.52 N	002°15.48 W	6.3	107	18.98	18.98
16 (0)	247 - Faber France	Thomas RUYANT	46°24.21 N	002°57.73 W	6	86	48.16	48.16
17 (0)	286 - Le roi du matelas	Mathieu GIROLET	46°31.08 N	003°17.22 W	7.7	82	61.25	61.25
18 (0)	165 - Hakuna Matata	Fabrice LUCAT	46°07.92 N	003°13.62 W	7.8	76	62.77	62.77
19 (0)	612 - Galanz	Jean-François QUELEN	46°28.86 N	003°29.82 W	7.9	81	69.93	69.93
20 (0)	321 - Owl	Yoann VADELEAU	46°18.00 N	003°29.58 W	7.7	78	70.81	70.81
21 (0)	650 - Jason	Jean-Marie VIDAL	46°23.10 N	003°37.20 W	8.1	83	75.34	75.34
22 (0)	460 - KPMG	Elodie RIOU	46°14.64 N	003°39.12 W	8.6	82	77.92	77.92
23 (0)	576 - Les Blouses Roses-Colas	Thibault REINHART	46°32.76 N	003°49.02 W	9.5	83	83.16	83.16
24 (0)	352 - Mini 352	Mark BLOOM	46°07.98 N	004°05.34 W	7.3	81	97.09	97.09
25 (1)	485 - Architecture(s) élémentaire(s)	Thomas BONNIER	46°13.92 N	004°18.54 W	8.7	88	104.9	104.9
26 (1)	472 - STGS.FR	Vincent BARNAUD	46°14.52 N	004°20.16 W	9	86	105.9	105.9
27 (-2)	317 - Déolen	Rémi DAUDIN	46°26.88 N	004°23.88 W	7.2	87	107.2	107.2
28 (0)	504 - Manu Poki	Alexis HUPIN	46°11.22 N	004°36.06 W	7.5	76	117.3	117.3
29 (0)	567 - Meteor	Jérôme KOCH	46°09.33 N	004°37.44 W	8.2	75	118.6	118.6
30 (0)	633 - Ned 1	Lucas SCHRODER	46°09.18 N	004°43.14 W	7.9	79	122.5	122.5
31 (0)	551 - 1000bateaux.com	Raoul COSPEN	46°22.32 N	004°55.38 W	7.7	84	129.2	129.2
32 (1)	491 - Marcel for ever	Stephan BONVIN	46°18.36 N	005°08.28 W	7.1	73	138.4	138.4
33 (-1)	245 - Ubik 245	Dominik ZURRER	46°21.00 N	005°08.64 W	6.8	86	138.4	138.4
34 (0)	511 - Bingo	Romain VIDAL	46°03.00 N	005°16.68 W	6.3	82	146.5	146.5
35 (0)	508 - Allianz.pl	Jaro KACZOROWSKI	45°53.64 N	005°13.62 W	8.2	79	146.6	146.6
36 (2)	455 - ADD-Modules	Antoine DEBLED	46°14.46 N	005°23.46 W	7.7	88	149.2	149.2
37 (0)	353 - Intrepid Project Valencia	Nacho ORTI	45°41.64 N	005°16.44 W	7.2	82	152.1	152.1
38 (-2)	444 - Spot	David RAWLINSON	46°00.06 N	005°24.18 W	7.5	82	152.2	152.2
39 (1)	613 - Merlin soft	Henrik MASEKOWITZ	46°09.12 N	005°30.18 W	8.4	90	154.6	154.6
40 (1)	516 - Atlantik FT	David KRIZEK	45°39.12 N	005°19.50 W	9.4	83	154.9	154.9
41 (1)	517 - Raisonances	Sébastien MARSSET	45°58.74 N	005°32.70 W	9.1	84	158.2	158.2
42 (-3)	546 - Tam Tam	Karen LEIBOVICI	45°59.22 N	005°35.76 W	7.3	83	160.2	160.2
43 (0)	569 - Napadelis	Bertrand DELESNE	45°56.52 N	005°36.00 W	8.5	93	161	161
44 (0)	312 - Night Fever	Yannick ALLAIN	45°56.88 N	005°46.26 W	6.7	74	167.8	167.8
45 (0)	599 - Ange	Michel VIU	45°54.96 N	006°06.18 W	7.7	85	181.8	181.8
46 (1)	442 - Voilerie Quantum	Isabelle MAGOIS	45°55.50 N	006°07.62 W	7.9	88	182.7	182.7
47 (1)	483 - Surfrider Foundation	Fabien SELLIER	45°58.14 N	006°11.37 W	8.5	89	184.7	184.7
48 (-2)	426 - Sailcenter.nl	Jelmer BOUW	45°38.34 N	006°08.04 W	7.7	77	187.3	187.3
49 (0)	250 - Alan France	Bertrand CASTELNéRAC	46°16.68 N	006°34.92 W	7.2	76	198.1	198.1
50 (1)	281 - Yamm	Dominique BARTHEL	45°54.60 N	007°24.24 W	7.6	82	235.1	235.1
51 (-1)	500 - Domosofa.com	Andrew WOOD	45°29.16 N	007°19.62 W	6.2	78	237.9	237.9
52 (0)	540 - Pearl Energy Feng	Elaine CHUA	45°09.24 N	007°16.32 W	6.6	81	242.2	242.2
53 (0)	507 - Sailing Atlantic Services	Adrien MONSEMPES	46°14.28 N	007°51.12 W	4.3	86	250.8	250.8
54 (2)	450 - Emotion Sailing team-aspanob	Hugo RAMON	45°29.64 N	007°43.08 W	7.3	84	253.6	253.6
55 (0)	322 - Peinture Ripolin	Pierre BRASSEUR	45°21.30 N	007°39.66 W	7.3	76	253.7	253.7
56 (-2)	573 - Groupe Royer	Sébastien PICAULT	45°44.10 N	007°52.68 W	3.5	68	256.6	256.6
57 (0)	340 - Lady Jim	Marie-Christine DE BRUGIèRE	45°29.22 N	008°33.30 W	6.3	75	287.7	287.7
58 (0)	384 - 20 minutes	Grégory MAGNE	45°35.76 N	008°46.86 W	3.4	81	295.4	295.4