Tripon leads as strong winds forecast

An update from the Mini class' Course de Lions

Last night the two handed Mini fleet in the Course de Lion rounded the mark off Arenys de Mar, Spain .

Pace-setting Armel Tripon on Moulin Roty was the first to pass the buoy on Sunday evening at 21.05. However the Breton sailor was pursued closely by Samuel Manuard on Tip Top Too while British duo Nick Bubb and John Parker rounded in sixth, slower on this part of the course.

One of the most exciting performances has been that of American double Olympic medallist Jonathan McKee sailing with Brian Thompson on the Mini Thompson raced in the Mini Transat in 2001.

From this mark the Minis will sail to the next mark off St Raphael 220 miles away.

Rounding the mark, the weather conditions were calm but in next the 24 hours, a 25 knot northerly is forecast making conditions difficult in the notoriously rough crossing the Golfe de Lyons.

Positions at Arénis de Mar, Spain

Pos	No	Type	Name	Skipper	Crew	Nation
1	151	PROTO Finot-Conq 95	MOULIN ROTY	Armel Tripon	Erwan Leroux	FRA/FRA
2	431	PROTO Manuard 03	TIP TOP TOO	Samuel Manuard	Loïc Le Bras	FRA/FRA
3	247	PROTO Roger 99	TEAM MC LUBE	Jonathan McKee	Brian Thompson	USA/UK
4	240	PROTO  lombard 99	ALEVI	Angel Rojas	Alex Pella	ESP/ESP
5	346	PROTO Manuard 01	ADRENALINE	Sébastien Roubinet	Michaël Auger	FRA
6	419	PROTO Magnen-nivelt 03	NORTHERN COMPUTERS	Nick Bubb	John Stephen Parker	GB/GB
7	102	PROTO Magnan 91	VILLE DE BANDOL	Ghislain Gendron	Xavier Macaire	FRAFRA
8	424	PROTO De Lamotte 03	CHEEKYTA	Tanguy De Lamotte	Rémi Aubrun	FRA/FRA
9	354	PROTO Finot-Conq 01	SALADINO	Bruno Garcia	Toni Weifl	ESP/ESP
10	432	PROTO Manuard 03	OC	Yannick Cano	Nicolas Marchand	FRA/FRA
11	353	PROTO Finot-conq 01	ZINGARO	Willy Garcia	Victor De Juan	ESP/ESP
12	330	SERIE Super Calin 01	CECIM	Jean-Pierre Balmes	Nicolas Strube	FRA/FRA
13	135	PROTO Finot-Conq 95	GOUDURIX3	Stéphane Ayrault	Etienne Carra	FRA/FRA
14	258	PROTO Manuard 99	TIP TOP	Marc Gascons	Christian Schmidt	FRA/FRA
15	386	PROTO Mergui 02	TI WAI	Tobias Hochreutener	Tom Horsfall	SUI/GB
16	405	PROTO Mistral 02	OKOUME	Caroline Vieille	Sébastien Stephant	FRA/FRA
17	216	SERIE Pogo 98	WAKATEPE	David Pertuiset	Eric Vaysse	FRA/FRA
18	274	SERIE Super Calin 99	TETE DE MULE	Eric Abela	Hervé Jourde	FRA/FRA
19	352	PROTO Finot-Conq 99	DE VIAJE.COM	Luis Irisarri	Jorge Fabre	ESP/ESP
20	389	SERIE Super Calin 01	TOTEM	Arezki Boudaoud	Bernard Morin	FRA/FRA
21	203	PROTO Gown 97	SQUARE PEG	David Gown	Andrew Bellamy	GB/GB
22	307	SERIE Pogo 00	FIBERA	Hervé Pouliquen	Laurent Négrel	FRA/FRA
23	45	SERIE Coco 88	PETER PAN	Jérôme Leonardon	Christophe Kellerhals	FRA/SUI
24	212	SERIE Pogo 98	ZOUKATI	Jean-Christophe Lagrange	Laurent Bourriquel	FRA/FRA