Groupama due tomorrow

Cammas heads for second Transat Jacques Vabre win

Pos	Boat	DTF	DTL	vmg	Lat	Long	spd	crs	spd	crs	spd	crs	spd	dist
							inst		1hr av		4hr av		over 24 hrs
	Open 60
1	VIRBAC	780.4	0.0	14.9	2 47.96' S	30 26.64' W	15.1	213	15.0	215	15.9	212	14.0	336.4
2	ECOVER	904.0	123.6	14.8	0 31.72' S	30 10.56' W	14.8	207	14.8	207	14.4	205	13.2	316.6
3	SILL	921.9	141.5	14.5	0 39.12' S	29 24.40' W	15.0	208	14.5	211	13.9	210	13.0	312.5
4	PRB	999.0	218.6	12.7	0 39.80' N	29 06.68' W	30.0	217	12.7	206	12.1	211	12.1	289.4
5	TEAM COWES	1042.1	261.6	11.1	2 14.80' N	30 44.16' W	11.1	194	11.2	196	11.1	198	10.3	248.4
6	VMI	1063.4	282.9	12.7	1 17.12' N	28 05.36' W	12.7	212	12.7	212	12.5	212	11.0	264.2
7	CARREFOUR PREVENTION	1160.1	379.7	10.3	3 28.80' N	28 40.00' W	11.0	212	10.3	210	10.8	208	11.1	267.4
8	GARNIER	1437.4	657.0	9.7	8 16.84' N	28 04.84' W	8.4	186	9.8	195	11.3	197	11.3	270.9
9	ARCELOR-DUNKERQUE	1474.4	694.0	10.8	6 44.16' N	23 04.56' W	11.4	196	11.3	200	9.8	195	6.6	158.9
10	LOIRE ATLANTIQUE	1604.1	823.7	9.4	9 03.88' N	23 30.72' W	9.8	203	9.8	198	10.1	198	10.3	246.2
11	60ème SUD	1862.6	1082.1	9.4	15 26.20' N	27 00.00' W	10.0	172	10.5	172	10.9	172	10.1	241.3
12	ADECCO	1936.4	1156.0	9.8	15 09.64' N	23 00.92' W	10.0	201	9.8	205	10.0	202	8.4	202.8
13	TIR GROUPE	2045.0	1264.6	10.3	16 03.48' N	20 47.64' W	13.0	200	10.9	192	10.7	190	9.1	218.3
	60ft tris
1	GROUPAMA	360.8	0	16.2	8 45.08' S	34 13.60' W	13.3	209	16.8	208	20.5	209	20.4	490.1
2	BELGACOM	431.4	70.6	24.3	07 41.40' S	33 16.80' W	0	0	25	209	25.8	209	23.1	554.7
3	SERGIO TACCHINI	500.9	140.1	24.5	6 41.76' S	31 36.66' W	22.9	217	24.9	217	24.8	218	21.6	517.9
4	GEANT	524.1	163.3	23.5	6 35.92' S	32 29.08' W	24.2	212	23.5	221	23.7	216	21.9	525.5
5	BISCUITS LA TRINITAINE	554.5	193.7	21.8	5 47.92' S	32 06.32' W	22.7	206	22.3	207	22	207	20.5	492.3
6	SODEBO	611.6	250.7	25.3	5 13.24' S	31 30.48' W	23	220	25.4	216	25.6	220	21.6	517.8
7	GITANA	615.1	254.2	23.5	4 33.96' S	31 10.44' W	30.5	218	23.7	212	24	211	20.2	485.8
8	BANQUE POPULAIRE	652.2	291.3	26.3	5 12.72' S	30 30.92' W	26	210	26.7	214	26.9	214	24.1	577.3
9	SOPRA GROUP	712.9	352.1	18	3 28.28' S	31 26.00' W	19.1	200	18.2	205	19	203	17.5	420
10	FONCIA	776	415.2	23	2 07.52' S	31 13.68' W	22.2	196	23.1	202	22.3	207	20	478.8
11	BONDUELLE	794.9	434	-0.2	2 00.04' S	31 25.36' W	8.4	190	1.3	307	11.9	204	16.3	392.1
12	BAYER CROPSCIENCE	990.1	629.2	21.3	1 03.40' N	30 02.92' W	23.1	200	21.4	206	20.6	201	16.9	406.4
13	BANQUE COVEFI	1157.5	796.6	20.3	2 45.04' N	27 23.40' W	21.4	213	20.4	206	16.3	213	15.1	363.1
	50ft multis
1	MOLLYMAWK	2451.2	0	3.3	23 51.44' N	21 19.04' W	9	272	9.3	273	9.1	274	5.6	134.6
	Open 50s
1	HELLOMOTO	1719.1	0	9.7	12 12.12' N	25 16.68' W	11.4	174	11.3	174	12.2	177	8.9	212.6
2	STORAGETEK	1928.3	209.3	9.9	16 23.24' N	26 21.60' W	9.9	202	10	202	10.9	200	9.8	234.2
3	DEFI VENDEEN	1945.9	226.8	6.3	15 33.24' N	23 30.52' W	10	272	8.2	245	9.3	217	9.4	225.8

Franck Cammas is heading for his second consecutive victory in the multihull division of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

At 1500GMT this afternoon Cammas had 360 miles to go the Salvador de Bahia finish line where he expected at around 0800-0900 Sunday morning. Cammas is holding a lead of 70 miles over second placed Belgacom who have been hurtling down the race course averaging 23 knots over the last 24 hours compared to Groupama's 20. Up until 1500 GMT this afternoon Belgacom had covered an impressive 525.5 miles in the last 24 hours. Unusually projecting this forward has her crossing the finish line ahead of Groupama tomorrow morning! Unlikely, but we can expect a compression of the fleet as the boats encounter increasingly light breeze towards the finish. All the top boats in the trimaran fleet have been notching up daily runs of around 500 miles, the most impressive being Lalou Roucayrol and Pascal Bidegorry on board Banque Populaire who covered 577.3 miles up until 1500GMT today.

At present the boats are hurtling down the Brazilian coast line in a 15 knot ESE breeze which looks set to lighten and back slightly as they approach the finish. Down the coast the crew will be attempting to make use of the local effects of the breeze while trying to avoid the Brazilian fishing fleet and other obstacles.

Meanwhile in the Open 60 fleet Virbac's 123 mile lead looks as unassailable as ever and with 780 miles left to go looks set to cross the finish line on Monday afternoon. Skipper Jean-Pierre Dick feels more comfortable with their lead over Ecover (Golding/Thompson) now that they are cranking along at 17 knots in what appears to be stable winds all the way to the finish line.

Behind, the duel for second place has stepped up now that both Ecover and Sill (Jourdain/Thomson) are in the southern hemisphere. A comparison of the average speeds of the boats over the last 24 hours shows Ecover having the slight edge speed- wise due either to them being in better pressure or Golding's latest generation boat being faster on this point of sail.

Golding revealed yesterday that his last, light spinnaker exploded in strong winds on Tuesday, but they are tight reaching in 16-20 knots of breeze with no need for the spi right now. However this could prove critical if, as tradition has it, the final approach into Salvador is a spinnaker run.

Brian Thompson on Ecover still maintains his winning outlook on the last few days of the race: “ Virbac are just over a hundred miles ahead with 800 to go, so only a breakdown or extreme bad luck with the stable weather of the tropics in going to keep them out of first. We are pushing 100%, not just to stay ahead of Sill but also to see if we can close up the gap ahead, to be ready for any opportunity. At present the gap is about 8 hours of sailing…”

Alex Thomson on Sill, of course, hopes the lack of sail wardrobe downwind will play to their advantage: “Well, it’s going to be a drag race all the way to the finish! Right now, Ecover is 80m to leeward of us and just in front, but she is going to have to sail a hotter angle to stay on the direct route, which is not far from upwind, as the breeze is from the SSE. For Ecover to be on the inside now is not going to be such a good position but she’s keeping up a good speed at the moment. Either she will come over towards our course, which will be slower, or more likely, she’ll sail up the coast where the winds may be freer as they should be more from the East, but they’ll definitely be lighter. It’s all in the lap of the wind gods now…”

Only 78m behind PRB (Riou/Beyou) is controlling the route, with VMI (Josse/Autissier) keeping the pressure up 66m behind and over to their east on a freer angle, and Team Cowes 44m behind and in the West. The sudden rise on Friday of Australian-British duo of Nick Moloney and Sam Davies has unfortunately fallen again as they have had to grapple with Doldrums’ squalls over the last 24 hours. Sam Davies remains positive: “We are just heading south tight fast reaching with the Solent and one reef in main. The wind is settled right now and should last a couple more hours before the next bank of cloud reaches us. The gradient wind has been really good and hopefully will see us through the Doldrums. The boats ahead are doing okay and they will be in the same conditions as us. The west has paid off so far as we keep ahead of VMI and as long as we keep fast now we might come out ahead of PRB...”

And finally…congratulations to Jeremie Beyou, who spent Thursday night following the birth of his first baby, a boy named Achille!

For the Open 50 fleet in their wake the Doldrums is looking as hazardous as ever - 300 miles of calms and squalls - not what the doctor ordered. Leaders Humphreys and Larsen on Hellomoto have a 209m lead but as we saw with Virbac, this could crumble if the weather gods are unkind: "We used our route through the Verdes to grab a little more westing”, said Humphreys, “but there is just no decent path through the Doldrums below 31 degrees. If we were to try to go above that, we would be faced with a horrendous beat on the other side, all the way to Salvador. So all we can really do right now is point Hellomoto south and try to keep her moving through it. But it means that Storagetek and Défi Vendéen are a real threat. Our 200 mile lead could be eaten away in just a couple of days should we become becalmed and they strike lucky.”

WEATHER

Now in both Open 60 classes the race is about speed as Virbac and Groupama both hold a lead of over 100m and are in the established Trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere. However, the race is not over yet and the leaders are having to make their decision as to whether to skirt the Brazilian coastline in search of local winds or to stay offshore until the final approach to Salvador. Could Groupama be taking a risk with the inshore option as they are a couple of degrees further in the West than the pack of four trimarans in pursuit? The weather experts prefer the offshore route – we shall see what happens.

For those still to cross the Southern Hemipshere, mainly the monohulls, it will prove interesting to see if the more Easterly position pays as it should mean a better, faster sailing angle to the wind direction. The Trades are established all the way to the finish, and so the weather is unlikely to do anything unpredictable. Only the local effects of the wind in the final 3 hours of the race could shake anything up given that some boats are racing neck and neck into Brazil.

To read the latest on board accounts - see page 2