Phil Sharp ahead

60ft tris trickle in, Open 60s v the warm front, British sailor in fine shape for Class 40 victory - all this in the Route du Rhum

Monday November 6th 2006, Author: James Boyd, Location: Transoceanic

Images courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems and ProGRIB

Positions at 0800GMT

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Dist	DTF	DTL
					Inst		4hr av		24 hr
	ORMA 60 tris
1	Gitana 11	Lionel lemonchois	7j 17h 19m 6s								0
2	Banque Populaire	Pascal Bidegorry	16 17.32' N	61 49.32' W	15.3	174	12.2	250	18.4	441.9	44.2	0
3	Sodeb'O	Thomas Coville	17 46.72' N	59 29.20' W	14.1	210	17.7	218	17.6	421.5	206.1	161.9
4	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	18 32.84' N	59 17.24' W	21.1	227	19.6	228	16.4	393	243.2	199
5	Groupama 2	Franck Cammas	18 19.20' N	58 29.84' W	24.4	232	17.8	244	19.6	469.3	271.2	227
6	Brossard	Yvan Bourgnon	18 05.52' N	57 12.36' W	20.2	216	18.8	216	14.1	337.6	331.4	287.1
7	Foncia	Alain Gautier	21 47.28' N	53 52.52' W	17.2	207	17	213	14	335.8	603.3	559.1
8	Region Guadeloupe-Terres de Passions	Claude Thelier	23 41.48' N	46 42.56' W	11.2	192	11.9	179	10.5	251.5	1005.1	960.9
9	Gitana 12	Thierry Duprey du Vorsent	26 36.80' N	47 11.48' W	15.1	168	15.9	206	11	263.7	1068.6	1024.4
10	Sopra Group	Antoine Koch	32 28.28' N	47 50.56' W	6.3	253	7	252	6	145.2	1277.1	1232.9
11	Orange Project	Steve Ravussin	40 31.20' N	39 04.88' W	11.4	334	16.6	278	7.3	176.2	1917.6	1873.4
12	Madinina	Gilles Lamire	37 59.44' N	30 17.36' W	6.2	274	4.5	273	3.5	84.5	2155	2110.8
	IMOCA Open 60s
1	Sill et Veolia	Roland Jourdain	31 08.72' N	46 24.88' W	8.3	262	10.6	263	11.7	281.9	1270.8	0
2	Virbac-Paprec	Jean-Pierre Dick	34 37.08' N	46 40.96' W	10	279	10.4	277	7.7	186	1412.4	141.6
3	VM Matériaux	Jean Le Cam	34 44.08' N	46 44.00' W	10.3	273	10.6	278	7.4	177.9	1416.1	145.3
4	Temenos II	Dominique Wavre	31 56.04' N	43 22.84' W	12.4	267	12.1	254	9.7	232.5	1419	148.2
5	Artemis	Brian Thompson	33 01.96' N	41 58.40' W	11.8	242	8.5	243	7.4	176.8	1516	245.2
6	Brit Air	Armel Le Cléac'h	38 40.60' N	46 39.04' W	14.3	240	15.6	243	10.1	243.1	1606.3	335.5
7	Roxy	Anne Liardet	32 32.48' N	37 43.72' W	7	229	5.8	233	6.7	161	1675.7	404.9
8	Safran	Marc Guillemot	33 55.36' N	36 22.80' W	9.1	206	6.3	199	5.1	122	1776.5	505.7
9	Maisonneuve Basse Normandie	JB Dejeanty	34 10.08' N	33 57.72' W	5.2	255	3.5	231	4.7	111.9	1881.8	611
10	Adriana Karembeu Paris	Philippe Fiston	37 51.72' N	28 59.68' W	3.9	271	2.7	241	1.6	39.6	2205.1	934.3
ABD	Delta Dore	Jeremy Beyou
ABD	PRB	Vincent Riou
	Class 2 multis
1	Crêpes Whaou !	Franck-Yves Escoffier	32 28.76' N	48 16.84' W	9.2	268	10.1	268	4.8	115.1	1259.6	0
2	Trilogic	Eric Bruneel	32 28.84' N	41 07.48' W	11.9	245	9.9	247	7	167	1530	270.5
3	Laiterie de Saint-Malo	Victorien Erussard	32 19.08' N	36 28.44' W	8.1	295	4.1	211	5.1	121.7	1724.2	464.6
4	Jean Stalaven	Pascal Quintin	38 03.28' N	36 53.04' W	8.9	246	7.7	242	3.6	86.4	1892.9	633.3
5	Gifi	Dominique Demachy	37 22.40' N	33 59.20' W	1	274	1.9	256	3.1	75	1985.6	726.1
6	Négocéane	Roger Langevin	36 34.69' N	32 34.84' W	3.2	172	3.7	239	3.4	80.7	2018	758.4
7	Deleage & DIAZO	Loic Escofier	40 57.64' N	36 16.64' W	11	278	10.4	273	6.3	150.9	2029.4	769.8
ABD	Le Bon Marche - Rive Gauche	Anne Caseneuve
	Class 3 multis
1	Imagine-Institut des Maladies Génétiques	Pierre Antoine	37 40.32' N	33 36.64' W	1.1	251	1.6	246	4.3	102.1	2010.4	0
2	Ideal Stelrad	Ross Hobson	39 19.84' N	34 53.80' W	9	276	5.9	281	4.9	118.5	2014.8	4.4
ABD	Switch.fr	Charlie Capelle
	Class 1 monos
1	Jeunes Dirigeants	Pierre-Yves Guennec	37 03.92' N	28 00.52' W	1.1	249	2.2	229	4.4	106	2225.7	0
2	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	39 18.20' N	27 35.48' W	2	250	4.4	249	4.8	114.7	2303.7	78
3	TAT Express	Arnaud Dhallenne	39 18.36' N	27 24.32' W	4.1	182	4.5	240	5.1	122.2	2311.4	85.7
4	Antilles-Sails.com	Philippe Chevallier	40 24.56' N	28 07.64' W	2	256	3.1	260	4.1	99.2	2314	88.3
	Class 2 monos
1	Artforms	Kip Stone	38 26.04' N	37 47.20' W	8	258	8.7	261	3.5	84.3	1878.5	0
2	Vedettes de Bréhat Cap Marine	Servane Escoffier	40 50.76' N	36 25.64' W	8.3	244	7.3	271	5.6	134.9	2019.9	141.4
3	Cap Guadeloupe 971	Luc Coquelin	40 41.99' N	34 22.62' W	7.2	258	6	263	4.4	106.1	2085	206.5
4	AOI Solidarité Dentaire Internationale	Denis Douillez	36 55.20' N	26 02.04' W	7.1	244	6.3	243	5.6	133.6	2308.2	429.7
	Class 3 monos
1	Roaring Forty	Michel Kleinjans	37 21.72' N	31 20.48' W	4	191	2.5	253	3.7	89.3	2093	0
2	DangerousWhenWet	Aurélia Ditton	42 51.00' N	28 55.12' W	4.4	220	2.1	269	3.7	88.7	2360.2	267.2
3	Fantasy Forest	Alain Grinda	40 38.22' N	21 12.90' W	6.9	246	6.3	238	5.2	123.8	2594.4	501.5
ABD	A Fond Contre la Spondylarthrite	Didier Le Villain
ABD	La Promesse	Jankees Lampe
ABD	Charter Regis Guillemot Martinique	Regis Guillemot
	Class 40
1	philsharpracing.com	Phil Sharp	40 45.84' N	39 37.52' W	7.4	208	7.1	260	6.4	152.9	1910.4	0
2	Oyster Funds	Gildas Morvan	38 40.08' N	36 47.36' W	7	243	5.9	247	3.7	88.2	1923.6	13.3
3	Atao Audio System	Dominic Vittet	36 11.68' N	32 55.60' W	2.4	158	3.1	229	3.6	85.8	1992	81.6
4	Chocolats Monbana	Damien Grimont	38 27.84' N	33 46.84' W	4	240	3	229	3.9	94.7	2028.8	118.4
5	TMI Technologies	Joe Seeten	36 42.64' N	32 18.88' W	3.6	272	4.7	247	3.5	83.6	2033.1	122.7
6	Appart'City	Yvan Noblet	36 06.88' N	31 52.44' W	4	166	2.7	220	3	72.4	2034	123.7
7	IXSEA	Olivier Rabine	39 36.16' N	34 26.88' W	6.2	254	4.9	263	3.8	92.1	2044.2	133.8
8	Tchuda Popka 2	Gw Catherine	37 02.28' N	32 15.52' W	2.5	210	3	233	4.3	102.6	2045.3	134.9
9	Bolands Mill	Ian Munslow	41 05.60' N	34 14.64' W	6.2	283	6.9	268	4.8	114.1	2105.8	195.4
10	Cinémas Cinéfil.com	JE Criquioche	37 27.36' N	30 48.12' W	4.4	220	4.6	212	3.9	93.9	2118.1	207.7
11	Kenmore Homes	Nick Bubb	40 49.88' N	33 06.56' W	6	250	4.9	253	4	95	2137.3	226.9
12	Cotes d'Armor - Pierres et Mer	Philippe le Gros	37 32.28' N	30 22.24' W	7.3	203	5.9	229	3.7	88.8	2138.5	228.1
13	Le Comptoir Immobilier	Guillaume Voizard	38 22.68' N	30 29.64' W	5	222	5.5	293	3.3	80.1	2158.1	247.8
14	Cap VAD	Thibaud Derville	38 14.72' N	30 18.04' W	5.3	246	4.8	249	5	119.1	2162.1	251.7
15	Guyader L'Esprit de la Mer	Gery Trentseaux	37 51.52' N	29 52.28' W	3.1	237	3.2	220	3.9	92.9	2168.5	258.1
16	Nous Entreprenons	Jacques Fournier	38 23.92' N	29 59.88' W	5.1	288	5.6	277	4.8	114.6	2179	268.6
17	Lexibook	Hervé Papin	38 20.60' N	29 54.16' W	4.1	291	6	272	2.8	68.1	2181.3	270.9
18	FNAIM Pays de Loire	Lionel Regnier	37 13.56' N	28 05.52' W	1.4	242	1.5	225	4	95.7	2225.6	315.2
19	Destination Calais	Pierre-Yves Chatelain	37 44.04' N	28 13.28' W	3.3	246	2.8	254	5	119.7	2234.3	323.9
20	KNAUF Industries	David Lefebvre	38 46.16' N	28 31.08' W	6.3	196	5.1	216	4.1	97.5	2250.5	340.2
21	Paca Entrprendre	Cecile Poujol	38 47.40' N	28 30.84' W	5.4	196	5.5	193	4.4	105.1	2251.3	340.9
22	Nouvelle Caledonie	Yves Ecarlat	38 13.44' N	27 35.44' W	6	228	5.3	229	5.3	128.1	2274.1	363.8
23	Fermiers de Loué - Sarthe	Francois Angoulvant	39 14.76' N	27 29.20' W	5.2	280	6.2	247	6	144.3	2306.4	396
24	Jardin Bio Equitable	Benoit Parnaudeau	39 05.88' N	26 33.72' W	7	252	6.3	255	4.5	108.6	2340.7	430.3
25	Siegenia-Aubi	Marc Lepesqueux	41 20.40' N	23 44.04' W	5.1	236	6	231	4.9	116.5	2516.3	606

Following Lionel Lemonchois and Gitana 11's trumphant record breaking arrival last night in Pointe a Pitre (more on this later) so the next boat expected is Pascal Bidegorry on board Banque Populaire, (further scuppering thedailysail's pre-race form guide) sometime mid-afternoon European time (mid-morning local time). Overnight Thomas Coville on Sodebo has ekked out a little more margin over Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant and looks set to take third followed by Franck Cammas on Groupama II.

A humdinger is currently going on in the Open 60s, pretty much summarised by the image above. A secondary low is forming on the bottom of the warm front (aligned NW-SE and disappearing out of the top of the picture) and there are at present three different techniques for dealing with this. Essentially everyone is hightailing it towards the strong NNEerly wind on the western side of the front. Furthest south, class leader Roland Jourdain on Sill et Veolia appears to be aiming for the bottom of the depression. For him the shift is still 300 miles away although the depression is moving slowly east and he will see the wind shift to the southwest and then quickly around to the north, but not until tomorrow late morning.

Meanwhile to the north Jean le Cam on VM Materiaux and Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac Paprec are once again locked in their mid-Atlantic match race and are attempting to nip through to the north of the depression althoough our forecast indicates that over the course of today the transition zone they must go through before reaching the shift dramatically widens. At the time of the latest position update and extrapolating le Cam's course the shift is still 165 miles away and again it is moving slowly east so they are likely to be into the big conditions come midnight.

However the lad to watch is Armel Le Cleac'h and his BritAir who some days ago took a more northerly route passing the Azores with the sole aim it seems of crossing the SW-NE orientated front sooner than the front runners. For the last four hours he has been averaging 15.6 knots, some 5 knots faster than the other front runners. However he is still 300 miles away from the point where le Cam will crossing into the big winds which still puts him 19 or so hours away. While it is likely that le Cam and Dick will pull into the fast lane first, le Cleac'h will not be far behind them and it will be equally interesting to see if Jourdain has enough of a lead to break through ahead of them. While we could be witnessing something of an Open 60 restart tomorrow, Brian Thompson on Artemis and Dominique Wavre on Temenos don't look like they will reach the big winds until tomorrow afternoon by which time the front runners will be history

The big news in the Class 40 fleet is that overnight Phil Sharp has taken the lead taking his northerly track along the same lines as Le Cleac'h. This could easily prove to be a race winning move for the highly talented former Mini sailor from Jersey. Through being more than 500 miles north of boats like Temenos Sharp has already broken through into the strong winds on the west side of the warm front and by the next position update we will see Sharp having turned his bows towards Guadeloupe seeing how fast a Class 40 will go with 30 knots up the chuff. So not only is Sharp in the lead he is also the only boat in the class sailing in big downhill conditions, surely a winning combination?

Yesterday's leader Gildas Morvan on Oyster Funds continues to meander along but it will take considerably longer for the burly Frenchman to reach the favourable winds - tomorrow afternoon seems most likely. Meanwhile the group to the south led by Dominique Vittet on ATAO Audio Systems, followed by Joe Seeten on TMI Technologies and Yvan Noblet on Appart'City are at present scuppered - they have averaged just 3 knots over the last four hours and won't be out of the woods until the wind veers south and builds to 15 knots tomorrow. Even then they will still be miles away from picking up the favourable shift.

Among the other Class 40 Brits, Ian Munslow and Nick Bubb are also way north but some 250 miles (in the case of Munslow) behind Sharp. They will get into the favourable winds around lunchtime tomorrow we suspect.

Below Ian Munslow sent an update yesterday:

HELLO.. WELL TODAYS NEWS IS, WE HAVE SPINNAKERS AGAIN!! I WENT UP THE RIG AND REPLACED THE HALYARDS, NICE WORK BY DAVE AND AND THE BOYS AT ALLSPARS IN PLYMOUTH WITH THE MOUSE LINES. I SHOULD HAVE LEARNE3D HOW TO USE THE ASCENDERS BEFORE I LEFT RATHER THAN WORKING IT UT HALFWAY UP THE MAST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC...MMM I TWISTED MY ANKLE UP THERE, GOT IT CAUGHT BETWEEN THE MAINSAIL AND THE RIG AS I WAS FLICKED ABUT... MY FIRST REACTION WAS, IT'S BROKEN...BUT I GOT OFF LIGHTLY, JUST SWOLLEN AND SORE. SO I'M BACK TO CONVENTIONAL HOIST/DROP ON THE SMALL KITE.. SHOULD BE INTERESTING IN A BLOW BUT I'M BUGGERED IF I'M GOING TO USE THAT SNUFFER AGAIN, THE AMMOUNT OF TROUBLE IT HAS CAUSED ME.
JUST TOOK SOMOE PICS AND A VIDEO.. I AM A HAVING A BAD HAIR DAY BELIEVE ME, NOT A PRETTY SIGHT.. SAME CLOTHES SINCE THE START STEREO IS ON, THE WEATHER IS WARMING U A BUT, BUT STILL NO SUNSHINE .. BUT FEELING GOOD THANKS EVERYNE.. IAN M END