Final furlong

Class 40s closing on St Malo in 1000 Milles Brittany Ferries as the Tanguys on Novedia are forced to retire

Friday August 29th 2008, Author: James Boyd, Location: United Kingdom
Positions at 1200

Pos Skipper Bota Latitude Longitude Spd Crs DTF
1 Bruno JOURDREN LORD JIMINY 48 56.80 N 3 35.88 W 0.1 213 º 65 nm
2 Arnaud AUBRY AUTO MAXI 48 48.64 N 3 46.80 W 1.6 37 º 73 nm
3 Peter HARDING 40 DEGREES 48 45.28 N 4 16.44 W 0.1 137 º 94 nm
4 Olivier GRASSI GRASSI BATEAUX 48 41.92 N 4 19.44 W 1.1 210 º 97 nm
5 Erik NIGON AXA ATOUT COEUR POUR AIDES 48 44.60 N 4 24.16 W 0.8 257 º 99 nm
6 Wilfrid CLERTON CGMER 48 44.48 N 4 27.88 W 0 127 º 104 nm
7 Jacques FOURNIER OCEANS ELEVEN 48 44.60 N 4 31.56 W 0.5 9 º 105 nm
8 Gilles DUTOIT TECHNEAU 48 39.88 N 4 37.32 W 3.8 49 º 109 nm
9 Pascal DOIN GROUPE PHR 48 39.00 N 4 38.08 W 2.8 50 º 110 nm
10 Marc JOLY VOILES SANS FRONTIERES 48 38.36 N 4 43.40 W 2.4 61 º 113 nm
11 Christian CHARDONNAL NEURODON.FR 48 29.96 N 4 49.28 W 3.3 354 º 123 nm
12 Alexis GUILLAUME MERENA 48 29.52 N 5 09.60 W 0.8 357 º 134 nm
13 Axel STRAUSS TZU HANG 48 27.76 N 5 13.32 W 4.2 23 º 137 nm
ABD Tanguy de LAMOTTE NOVEDIA GROUP-SET ENVIRONNEMENT 47 42.04 N 3 41.00 W 6.1 99 º 189 nm
ABD Gonzalo BOTIN TALES 43 27.68 N 3 47.96 W 0 90 º 430 nm
ABD Benoit PARNAUDEAU PREVOIR VIE 46 08.80 N 1 10.04 W 3.1 130 º 637 nm
ABD Christophe COATNAN GROUPE PARTOUCHE 49 56.56 N 0 34.16 E 10 84 º 1047 nm
 
As the Class 40 competitors in the 1000 Milles Brittany Ferries round the mark off Roscoff en route to the St Malo finish line, so the breeze has been turning itself inside out.

However the big news overnight has been the retirement of third placed Novedia Group -Set Environnement. At 19h last night, off Conquet, Tanguy de Lamotte and Tanguy Leglatin took the wise but difficult decision to divert to the nearest port: that of Camaret, due to charging problems they have been experiencing on board.

As Tanguy de Lamotte explained: "We struggled a few hours, like other competitors in a breeze too weak to stem the flow against. The only way to do back then was to shelter the coast… Unfortunately, without energy, we were deprived of navigational instruments, such as the polling, weather mark and our GPS, which are essential in these conditions. Without wind, amid rocks and strong currents, submerged in mist, the risks are too great to continue the race. We obviously have not taken this decision lightly - it's very frustrating to stop in the midst of a battle so exciting, with a possible podium place waiting for us… But at sea, safety is always at a premium!"

The boat is making for its home port of Lorient.

Meanwhile since yesterday morning Bruno Jourdren and Kito de Pavant on Lord Jiminy have regained the lead ahead of Arnaud Aubry and Antoine Carpentier on AutoMax.

However the retirement of the Tanguys is good news for Peter Harding and Miranda Merron on 40 Degrees, pulling them up to third place.

At present conditions continue to be light (5 knots) with the wind northeasterly backing to the north as the boats approach St Malo. Tonight it is expected to build slightly and veer back to the ENE.

Reports from on board 40 Degrees

At 6am this morning we had a 100.6 miles to go to the finish line in St Malo, however in the last four hours we have only covered 7.2 miles as we have had very light wind, and some 2.5 knots of adverse tide to play with. The tide will turn at 1200 and this will help our progress to a buoy that we have to pass just outside Roscoff.

After 900 miles of racing and 6 days at sea, we are within sight of two other boats, and there are three others within seven miles of us. It goes to show how competitive and how evenly matched the Class 40 boats are. Peter

We went through the Chenal du Four again last night, and got to see close up the impressive lighthouse at the Pointe de St Mathieu, while trying to stay close to the shore awaiting favourable tide. Now it's grey, and drizzling. We are occasionally sailing backwards with the tide, but not as much as the two boats we can see, because they are a bit further away than a couple of hours ago. That pint of beer is still a long way off!
Miranda

40 Degrees 48 44N 4 16W, TWS 4 knots, COG - well, whatever can be
achieved - looks like someone has scribbled randomly on the chart...

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