Into the arms of the anticyclone

Latest forecast shows Azores high moving over Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables Mini fleet

Upwind still upwind... But with the wind having backed to the north it is port tack favoured directly on course to the finish line at Les Sables d’Olonne. The fleet is continuing to open up with the leaders all sticking close to the rhumb line while a rogue group the most extreme being Gérard Marin's Escar l'escala/c.n.llanca which for some reason went north immediately after leaving the Azores and are now in the embrace of the Azores high pressure system.

Moving into the lead is Slovenian Andraz Mihelin on Adria Mobil Too who at the outset passed to the north of the Azores' Graciosa island on the night of the start and is now sailing in 8-12 knots from the north. Adria Mobil Too is at the moment the most southeasterly boat, being shadowed closely by Peter Laureyssens on the Mini Ecover and Mihelin's compatriot Kristian Hajnsek on Adria Mobil who is also on the same track behind him.

Some twenty miles to their north is another pack sasiling slightly closer to the wind, including Adrien Hardy ( Brossard), Jérôme Koch ( Meteor), Isabelle Joschke ( Degrémont), Xavier Haize ( Carben Composites) and François Salabert ( Aréas Assurance). They are heading on a course of 60° and 80°, and so look set to divide in latitude as the boats make the passage across to the Bay of Biscay.

The forecast has changed over the last 48 hours. Previously the Azores high was supposed to remain centred to the north of the Azores, kept in check to the east by a large area of low pressure centred over the UK, which would see the wind backing northwest the further up the track the boats went. However the latest tea leaf reading indicates that the Azores high will in fact move directly over the fleet within 48 hours. Out to the northeast Marin will feel the first of this, and looks set to have no reprieve as the direct route to Les Sables d'Olonne will take him through the middle of the high. With this forecast the leaders to the south will be better off as although the wind is likely to veer to the northeast putting them hard on the wind again, this will be a faster point of sailing than trying to sail downwind in these conditions. The question for those to the south will be which way to go. Tacking to the south would allow the boats to sail away from the high into better pressure and would see them consistently lifted on the way to Cape Finistere. This may be the only option as the sailing north will take the boats directly into the clutches of the high. This is going to turn out to be a long leg....to the extent that the organisers have already delayed the prize giving.

In the Series class five boats have broken away: Thomas Bonnier on Architecture(s) élémentaire(s) is systematic pulling ahead from Vincent Barnaud on STGS.fr and surprisingly Bertrand Castelnérac on Alan France an old Pogo 1, the young Thibault Reinhart on Les blouses roses-Colas and the leader of the first leg, Hervé Piveteau's Jules.

Positions at 1330 GMT

Pos.	Boat	Skipper	Lat.	Long.	Spd	Crs	DTF	DTL
1 (1)	510 - Adria Mobil Too	Andraz MIHELIN	40°16,08 N	023°20,82 W	5.71	73	1 006.91	0
2 (-1)	432 - Carben composites	Xavier HAIZE	40°29,10 N	023°30,30 W	5.63	65	1 007.04	0.13
3 (0)	618 - Ecover	Peter LAUREYSSENS	40°16,92 N	023°25,20 W	5.57	80	1 009.43	2.52
4 (0)	198 - Brossard	Adrien HARDY	40°33,12 N	023°39,24 W	5.69	69	1 011.15	4.24
5 (0)	567 - Meteor	Jérôme KOCH	40°31,98 N	023°39,96 W	5.58	69	1 012.16	5.25
6 (0)	276 - Degrémont	Isabelle JOSCHKE	40°31,80 N	023°40,32 W	5.52	68	1 012.49	5.58
7 (0)	348 - Bretagne Lapins	David SINEAU	40°22,02 N	023°34,92 W	5.78	72	1 013.49	6.58
8 (0)	454 - Areas Assurances	François SALABERT	40°28,26 N	023°39,78 W	5.72	74	1 013.79	6.88
9 (0)	165 - Hakuna Matata	Fabrice LUCAT	40°07,32 N	023°35,46 W	5.33	76	1 020.94	14.03
10 (0)	509 - Adria Mobil	Kristian HAJNSEK	40°09,24 N	023°39,84 W	5.98	79	1 022.93	16.02
11 (1)	419 - Rafiki	Nicholas BRENNAN	40°15,06 N	023°49,02 W	5.82	75	1 026.26	19.35
12 (1)	617 - Soitec	Fabien DESPRES	40°13,44 N	023°48,60 W	5.93	78	1 026.76	19.85
13 (2)	424 - PCO Technologies	Ronan DESHAYES	40°27,00 N	024°00,84 W	5.87	40	1 028.53	21.62
14 (0)	485 - Architecture(s) élémentaire(s)	Thomas BONNIER	40°12,18 N	023°50,82 W	5.19	73	1 028.85	21.94
15 (-4)	650 - Jason	Jean-Marie VIDAL	40°31,68 N	024°07,92 W	0	116	1 031.10	24.19
16 (2)	312 - Night Fever	Yannick ALLAIN	40°06,06 N	023°56,58 W	5.46	76	1 035.67	28.76
17 (-1)	472 - STGS.FR	Vincent BARNAUD	40°11,04 N	024°01,14 W	5.01	72	1 036.31	29.4
18 (4)	260 - Negawatt	Olivier CUSIN	40°39,60 N	024°22,38 W	5.49	84	1 037.19	30.28
19 (1)	508 - Allianz.pl	Jaro KACZOROWSKI	40°19,26 N	024°08,40 W	5.7	77	1 037.25	30.34
20 (3)	551 - 1000bateaux.com	Raoul COSPEN	40°12,72 N	024°03,90 W	5.27	83	1 037.35	30.44
21 (-4)	576 - Les Blouses Roses-Colas	Thibault REINHART	40°09,18 N	024°02,70 W	5.28	70	1 038.25	31.34
22 (-3)	250 - Alan France	Bertrand CASTELNéRAC	40°03,90 N	023°59,64 W	4.94	70	1 038.76	31.85
23 (-2)	518 - Jules	Hervé PIVETEAU	39°57,36 N	023°55,38 W	5.05	81	1 039.11	32.2
24 (0)	573 - Groupe Royer	Sébastien PICAULT	40°00,36 N	024°05,52 W	5.34	37	1 044.42	37.51
25 (0)	247 - Faber France	Thomas RUYANT	40°12,18 N	024°16,98 W	5.32	83	1 046.38	39.47
26 (2)	455 - ADD-Modules	Antoine DEBLED	39°48,96 N	024°00,36 W	5.22	85	1 046.59	39.68
27 (-1)	607 - BPI	Francisco LOBATO	40°04,74 N	024°12,60 W	5.44	73	1 047.03	40.12
28 (-1)	500 - Domosofa.com	Andrew WOOD	40°14,04 N	024°21,66 W	5.41	77	1 048.64	41.73
29 (0)	511 - Bingo	Romain VIDAL	40°28,68 N	024°37,68 W	6.08	82	1 052.53	45.62
30 (1)	321 - Owl	Yoann VADELEAU	40°34,92 N	024°44,76 W	5.38	79	1 054.43	47.52
31 (-1)	517 - Raisonances	Sébastien MARSSET	40°02,22 N	024°26,40 W	5.17	85	1 057.49	50.58
32 (2)	491 - Marcel for ever	Stephan BONVIN	40°32,76 N	024°49,98 W	5.65	82	1 058.95	52.04
33 (-1)	483 - Surfrider Foundation	Fabien SELLIER	39°59,88 N	024°26,94 W	5.29	85	1 058.98	52.07
34 (1)	352 - Mini 352	Mark BLOOM	40°32,52 N	024°50,52 W	5.38	80	1 059.42	52.51
35 (1)	612 - Galanz	Jean-François QUELEN	40°46,14 N	025°01,62 W	5.08	68	1 060.74	53.83
36 (-3)	444 - Spot	David RAWLINSON	40°05,94 N	024°35,04 W	4.72	83	1 061.49	54.58
37 (2)	460 - KPMG	Elodie RIOU	40°39,48 N	025°03,54 W	5.32	71	1 065.04	58.13
38 (-1)	540 - Pearl Energy Feng	Elaine CHUA	40°03,42 N	024°39,30 W	4.48	80	1 065.56	58.65
39 (-1)	426 - Sailcenter.nl	Jelmer BOUW	40°14,52 N	024°47,94 W	4.03	95	1 066.07	59.16
40 (0)	442 - Voilerie Quantum	Isabelle MAGOIS	39°49,14 N	024°35,40 W	5.16	78	1 069.89	62.98
41 (0)	516 - Atlantik FT	David KRIZEK	40°18,24 N	024°57,42 W	4.9	80	1 070.70	63.79
42 (1)	633 - Ned 1	Lucas SCHRODER	40°33,90 N	025°11,94 W	5.03	77	1 073.26	66.35
43 (3)	281 - Yamm	Dominique BARTHEL	40°30,90 N	025°12,84 W	4.93	76	1 075.24	68.33
44 (1)	507 - Sailing Atlantic Services	Adrien MONSEMPES	40°24,96 N	025°08,94 W	5.15	87	1 075.34	68.43
45 (-3)	599 - Ange	Michel VIU	40°06,84 N	025°01,74 W	4.32	75	1 078.99	72.08
46 (-2)	569 - Napadelis	Bertrand DELESNE	40°07,38 N	025°02,70 W	4.47	83	1 079.38	72.47
47 (2)	504 - Manu Poki	Alexis HUPIN	40°42,42 N	025°27,48 W	5.66	73	1 079.93	73.02
48 (-1)	613 - Merlin soft	Henrik MASEKOWITZ	40°13,74 N	025°13,62 W	4.65	77	1 083.73	76.82
49 (-1)	340 - Lady Jim	Marie-Christine DE BRUGIèRE	39°46,98 N	024°56,16 W	3.84	77	1 084.85	77.94
50 (0)	317 - Déolen	Rémi DAUDIN	40°25,80 N	025°28,08 W	4.52	76	1 087.88	80.97
51 (0)	353 - Intrepid Project Valencia	Nacho ORTI	40°17,76 N	025°28,38 W	4.62	73	1 091.80	84.89
52 (1)	286 - Le roi du matelas	Mathieu GIROLET	40°35,46 N	025°41,46 W	5.29	80	1 092.53	85.62
53 (-1)	384 - 20 minutes	Grégory MAGNE	39°56,58 N	025°24,48 W	3.72	94	1 099.19	92.28
54 (1)	546 - Tam Tam	Karen LEIBOVICI	40°07,98 N	026°01,74 W	4.81	84	1 118.90	111.99
55 (-1)	626 - Escar l'escala/c.n.llanca	Gérard MARIN	41°06,30 N	026°49,74 W	4.11	57	1 125.47	118.56
56 (0)	245 - Ubik 245	Dominik ZURRER	40°49,50 N	026°54,24 W	3.69	80	1 135.76	128.85
57 (1)	450 - Emotion Sailing team-aspanob	Hugo RAMON	38°59,46 N	026°17,94 W	4.69	89	1 163.35	156.44
58 (-1)	322 - Peinture Ripolin	Pierre BRASSEUR	38°57,66 N	026°18,00 W	4.49	91	1 164.31	157.4