Open 60 match race

Dick and le Cam locked in mid-Atlantic combat in the Route du Rhum

Saturday November 4th 2006, Author: James Boyd, Location: Transoceanic

Images courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems and ProGRIB

Positions at 1200GMT

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	25 45.04' N	51 42.08' W	22.2	215	24.1	210	21.3	510	846.1	0
2	Banque Populaire	Pascal Bidegorry	28 00.44' N	50 41.64' W	21	220	22.6	217	20.5	491	979.7	133.6
3	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	28 15.64' N	48 47.00' W	21.2	226	18.8	222	18.6	445.3	1062.9	216.7
4	Brossard	Yvan Bourgnon	26 49.56' N	46 46.16' W	13.2	194	17.3	231	18	431.9	1094.5	248.4
5	Sodeb'O	Thomas Coville	29 57.84' N	48 54.68' W	24.1	227	18.1	223	18.8	452.1	1129.2	283.1
6	Groupama 2	Franck Cammas	29 20.44' N	46 22.08' W	27.3	212	20.2	211	18.9	453.8	1191	344.9
7	Foncia	Alain Gautier	30 38.12' N	44 53.28' W	18	210	16.8	201	16.6	399.6	1310.1	464
8	Region Guadeloupe-Terres de Passions	Claude Thelier	33 06.36' N	41 45.44' W	20.4	260	18.2	255	19	454.9	1527.2	681.1
9	Gitana 12	Thierry Duprey du Vorsent	34 27.28' N	40 21.44' W	22.1	268	17.4	259	14.6	350.6	1632	785.9
10	Sopra Group	Antoine Koch	34 25.68' N	39 28.32' W	13	263	13.9	257	13.7	329	1647.2	801.1
11	Orange Project	Steve Ravussin	38 31.96' N	28 37.48' W	0	0	0	0	-0.2	-5	2239.4	1393.3
12	Madinina	Gilles Lamire	38 31.96' N	28 37.28' W	0.1	40	3.1	217	10.7	256	2239.6	1393.5
	Open 60 monos
1	Virbac-Paprec	Jean-Pierre Dick	37 34.68' N	38 06.20' W	11.4	266	13.8	274	13.1	315.2	1829	0
2	VM Matériaux	Jean Le Cam	37 33.24' N	38 12.28' W	12	265	13.1	268	14.1	337.7	1829.5	0.5
3	Sill et Veolia	Roland Jourdain	36 40.32' N	37 05.00' W	14.4	268	16.3	264	13.9	333.7	1839.5	10.5
4	Temenos II	Dominique Wavre	37 48.80' N	36 29.32' W	9.1	195	10.9	260	13.1	314	1903.3	74.3
5	Artemis	Brian Thompson	38 26.42' N	36 23.57' W	8.8	217	9.5	280	12	287.5	1929.8	100.8
6	Brit Air	Armel Le Cléac'h	40 08.36' N	36 09.60' W	11	266	12.9	272	12.1	290.3	2001.8	172.7
7	Roxy	Anne Liardet	38 49.92' N	33 36.36' W	13	190	11	202	12.2	292.6	2049.1	220.1
8	Safran	Marc Guillemot	37 06.68' N	31 06.00' W	10.1	214	12.1	194	12.6	302.6	2095.5	266.4
9	Maisonneuve Basse Normandie	JB Dejeanty	36 00.00' N	28 23.04' W	12.2	264	11.9	264	11.8	283.1	2182	352.9
10	Adriana Karembeu Paris	Philippe Fiston	39 40.08' N	25 19.40' W	2.4	325	6.7	276	10.3	248	2407.3	578.3
ABD	Delta Dore	Jeremy Beyou
ABD	PRB	Vincent Riou
	Class 2 multis
1	Crêpes Whaou !	Franck-Yves Escoffier	35 01.56' N	40 37.24' W	15	272	14.9	265	15.2	365.1	1643.1	0
2	Trilogic	Eric Bruneel	36 33.88' N	34 49.56' W	10.1	259	10.1	226	13.1	315.4	1925.3	282.2
3	Laiterie de Saint-Malo	Victorien Erussard	36 27.72' N	31 43.96' W	14	190	14.3	191	12.7	304.6	2049.9	406.9
4	Jean Stalaven	Pascal Quintin	41 42.00' N	32 39.28' W	11.1	275	10	274	9.3	223.3	2184.6	541.5
5	Gifi	Dominique Demachy	38 59.68' N	28 29.84' W	8.2	244	10.3	242	10.9	260.9	2257.6	614.6
6	Négocéane	Roger Langevin	40 37.70' N	29 20.81' W	11.3	257	10.7	260	11.6	278.6	2272.8	629.7
7	Le Bon Marche - Rive Gauche	Anne Caseneuve	39 49.32' N	28 11.00' W	6.2	207	5.7	194	9.1	218.2	2294.4	651.3
8	Deleage & DIAZO	Loic Escofier	42 56.04' N	27 04.68' W	16	266	13.4	271	11.7	280.9	2431.1	788
	Class 3 multis
1	Imagine-Institut des Maladies Génétiques	Pierre Antoine	40 06.76' N	28 29.68' W	13.3	271	10.9	251	11	264	2290.6	0
2	Ideal Stelrad	Ross Hobson	40 39.28' N	27 31.28' W	7.3	258	11.6	269	11.2	268.1	2345.3	54.7
ABD	Switch.fr	Charlie Capelle
	Class 1 monos
1	Jeunes Dirigeants	Pierre-Yves Guennec	40 34.64' N	23 50.60' W	10.1	257	9.5	249	9.4	225	2492.1	0
2	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	42 05.52' N	22 09.40' W	10	248	8.7	251	9.1	217.4	2599.5	107.4
3	TAT Express	Arnaud Dhallenne	42 01.28' N	22 01.04' W	8.3	252	8.6	257	8.8	210.3	2603.4	111.3
4	Antilles-Sails.com	Philippe Chevallier	41 45.04' N	21 44.52' W	8.4	214	9	238	8.2	196.5	2607.8	115.7
	Class 2 monos
1	Vedettes de Bréhat Cap Marine	Servane Escoffier	40 55.72' N	29 30.76' W	10.1	260	11.8	266	11.9	285.5	2275.1	0
2	Cap Guadeloupe 971	Luc Coquelin	41 03.58' N	27 26.79' W	11.3	260	11.1	264	10.1	241.9	2360.2	85.1
3	AOI Solidarité Dentaire Internationale	Denis Douillez	39 48.72' N	20 45.48' W	8	266	8.8	249	8.8	211.6	2603.2	328.1
NL	Artforms	Kip Stone
	Class 3 monos
1	Roaring Forty	Michel Kleinjans	40 43.44' N	27 06.56' W	8	199	10.3	205	10.1	241.5	2363.7	0
2	DangerousWhenWet	Aurélia Ditton	43 34.92' N	22 53.04' W	8.2	259	7.8	259	8.1	193.4	2610.2	246.5
NL	Fantasy Forest	Alain Grinda
ABD	A Fond Contre la Spondylarthrite	Didier Le Villain
ABD	La Promesse	Jankees Lampe
ABD	Charter Regis Guillemot Martinique	Regis Guillemot
	Class 40s
1	Oyster Funds	Gildas Morvan	40 31.84' N	31 11.96' W	9.4	195	9.5	241	11.7	280.4	2198.3	0
2	philsharpracing.com	Phil Sharp	41 39.36' N	31 35.40' W	8.2	259	10.7	266	11.6	277.5	2221.8	23.5
3	Atao Audio System	Dominic Vittet	38 29.40' N	28 37.24' W	10	198	9.3	200	10.5	253	2238.4	40.1
4	Appart'City	Yvan Noblet	39 24.48' N	28 00.66' W	12.2	257	11.6	258	12	288.9	2269.1	70.8
5	TMI Technologies	Joe Seeten	39 19.08' N	28 09.16' W	11.5	257	11.3	257	11.6	279.4	2275.6	77.3
6	Chocolats Monbana	Damien Grimont	39 30.92' N	27 23.20' W	9.2	251	11.5	256	11.7	280.6	2312.7	114.4
7	IXSEA	Olivier Rabine	40 50.08' N	27 43.68' W	9.1	248	11.6	259	11.5	276.1	2335.8	137.4
8	Tchuda Popka 2	Gw Catherine	40 23.20' N	27 02.52' W	10.4	203	8.7	246	10.3	247.2	2356.7	158.4
9	Bolands Mill	Ian Munslow	41 31.60' N	27 07.00' W	8.1	287	10.6	269	10	240.2	2387	188.7
10	Kenmore Homes	Nick Bubb	41 44.60' N	27 05.36' W	9	271	8.4	269	10.8	259.4	2394.5	196.2
11	Le Comptoir Immobilier	Guillaume Voizard	41 05.80' N	26 21.60' W	9.1	228	9.5	202	9.6	229.7	2404.2	205.9
12	Lexibook	Hervé Papin	41 09.20' N	26 16.08' W	7.1	268	9.1	260	10.2	243.8	2405.6	207.3
13	Cotes d'Armor - Pierres et Mer	Philippe le Gros	40 13.68' N	25 31.64' W	10.1	260	10	269	10.3	246.5	2409.4	211.1
14	Cinémas Cinéfil.com	JE Criquioche	40 18.24' N	25 30.40' W	8.1	264	10.2	259	10.5	252.7	2416.6	218.3
15	Guyader L'Esprit de la Mer	Gery Trentseaux	41 30.84' N	25 29.44' W	8.4	267	8.5	253	9.6	229.9	2438	239.7
16	Nous Entreprenons	Jacques Fournier	41 34.68' N	25 13.12' W	7.4	210	9.6	214	10	239.1	2463.2	264.9
17	FNAIM Pays de Loire	Lionel Regnier	40 24.28' N	24 17.56' W	9.4	214	9.9	206	9.2	220.1	2469.1	270.8
18	Cap VAD	Thibaud Derville	41 26.04' N	24 28.88' W	10.3	238	9.4	263	9.8	234.3	2488.7	290.4
19	Destination Calais	Pierre-Yves Chatelain	40 54.12' N	23 18.32' W	8.2	260	10.4	257	8.8	210.2	2522.5	324.2
20	KNAUF Industries	David Lefebvre	41 07.00' N	23 01.76' W	7.1	250	9.6	255	8.6	205.4	2539.3	341
21	Paca Entrprendre	Cecile Poujol	40 57.28' N	22 36.36' W	10.2	248	9.5	247	9	216.5	2547.7	349.4
22	Nouvelle Caledonie	Yves Ecarlat	41 28.24' N	22 30.60' W	8.4	244	8.8	251	8.8	210.8	2569.5	371.1
23	Fermiers de Loué - Sarthe	Francois Angoulvant	42 19.96' N	22 26.72' W	7.2	244	6.8	245	7.3	175.5	2594.1	395.8
24	Jardin Bio Equitable	Benoit Parnaudeau	41 29.48' N	21 51.44' W	4	238	7	239	5.8	140	2596.7	398.3
25	Siegenia-Aubi	Marc Lepesqueux	44 36.64' N	18 25.76' W	9.1	238	9.2	242	8.7	208	2810	611.7

Will this be the finish order in Pointe a Pitre on Monday? Short of a disaster (and itan exactly a disaster of this kind happened to Steve Ravussin four years ago) it seems that Lionel Lemonchois on Gitana 11 is unstoppable. Since yesterday morning's update the separation between the leaders has increased - while yesterday Gitana's lead over second placed Banque Populaire was 110 miles today it is 133 while third placed Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant is now 216 miles off Lemonchois compared to 148 yesterday. The story is the same for all the chasing pack. Nothing is showing up on the forecast other than 15-20 knot easterlies. At present Gitana's ETA at Pointe a Pitre is just after midnight on Monday with Pascal Bidegorry's Banque Populaire seven hours later. This would make his time 7 days 11.5 hours - bearing in mind Laurent Bourgnon's course record is 12 days 8 hours 41 minutes and 6 seconds, this record could be unbeatable.

While it might all seem to be signed and sealed in the ORMA 60s with few tactical options left, this is far from the case between the IMOCA Open 60s where since breeakfast time today Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac-Paprec and the wily and highly experienced Jean le Cam on VM Materiaux are locked in a mid-Atlantic match race for the lead. At present all the boats are hightailing it west and all wil be affected by a significant change in the weather over the next 48 hours. First up the wind will be veer around to the south and then southwest and drop prounfly as the high pressure system they have been riding along the south side of for the last few days is finally shoved off to the east. The race is on at present because chasing this high pressure from the west is a iant warm front associated with a depression centred way to the north in the mid-Atlantic. The plan is to get to the other side of this front where the wind is strong and northerly before heading south again.

What will be interesting here is the orientation of the front - at present the forecast shows it to be more or less southwest-northeast and may possibly twist clockwise further still by the time the boats encounter it. Thus former Solitaire du Figaro winner Armel le Cleac'h on Brit Air way up to the north could get into the favourable at around the same time as the front runners. It is presumably for this reason that Brian Thompson on Artemis has also been heading slightly north. In this situation former race leader Roland Jourdain on Sill et Veolia is not looking so flash to the south.

Over the next 48 hours it will be fascinated to follow how this unfolds.

Some 400 mile back up the course the leading Class 40s have spent the night passing to the north of the Azores. The exception has been Dominique Vittet on ATAO Audio System who has been forced to make an unscheduled pitstop in Faial in order to pick up a new big spinnaker. Vittet arrived at 1100 this morning where he met up with Cyil Ducrot and picking up the kite along with a much needed bar of chocloate set sail again after just 25 minutes.

Did Vittet set sail north or south - we shall see at the next sched, but in the meantime, Gildas Morvan and his expert routing team back in Port la Foret have been given the opportunity to extend their first place with Britain's Phil Sharp now up to second 23.5 miles astern. Tactically for the Class 40s the weather game is the same as it is for the Open 60s with the exception that they will encounter it around a day later. Again Sharp's northerly position may prove beneficial allowing to get through the front and out in to the favourable winds at the same time as Morvan. This may not be an advantage, but at least Morvan is unlikely to get away if this comes to pass.

The Class 40s holding third through to six in the Class 40s, including Joe Seeten, are positioned to the south and this may end up benefititing Ian Munslow and Nick Bubb both currently much further north and holding ninth and tenth places respectively.