Golding hangs in there

Defi Atlantique fleet on the home straight to La Rochelle

Positions at 0500GMT

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Latitude	Longitude	DTF	DTL
1	Mike GOLDING	Ecover	N455421	W0055523	194.3	0
2	Alex THOMSON	AT Racing	N455388	W0061788	210	15.7
3	Sébastien JOSSE	VMI	N455368	W0062327	213.8	19.5
4	Vincent RIOU	PRB	N454740	W0062824	217.9	23.6
5	Nick MOLONEY	Team Cowes	N452608	W0075504	281.2	86.9
6	Joe SEETEN	Arcelor Dunkerque	N444916	W0112744	435.5	241.2
7	Benoît LEQUIN	Wel.network	N394928	W0193760	887.3	693
8	Benoît PARNAUDEAU	Colibri - Charente-Maritime	N365640	W0223052	1096.4	902.1
9	Anne LIARDET	Gonna-Gitcha	N301488	W0254784	1491.9	1297.6
10	Jean Pierre DICK	Virbac	N243652	W0332280	2011.6	1817.3

In the last reshuffle among the leaders in the Defi Atlantique Mike Golding is hanging on to the lead he established yesterday afternoon and has now increased to a 15 mile advantage. Overnight Alex Thomson on AT Racing has overtaken Sebastien Josse on VMI to take second place.

Part of the reason for Golding's success over the last 24 hours is that yesterday morning the boats were sailing upwind around the bottom of an area of high pressure, conditions in which Golding's new Open 60 has proved to excel. With the onset of a depression moving slowly east from the Azores the wind has been veering south overnight which should even the playing field once again.

In these conditions the front runners should be expected into La Rochelle overnight tonight.

“ Ecover kicks ass in these upwind conditions, and I’d be pleased if Mike wins, I know I’ve sailed a respectable race and to be honest if I’m on that podium then I’ll be chuffed to bits," Alex Thomson commented yesterday afternoon. "I’m still ready for any opportunity, and I’m really enjoying this match-racing with VMI now as I can see her on my port bow. I’m working hard to beat both VMI and PRB as I should be able to. But at the same time I am not sailing too hard because the boat is showing signs of wear and tear. I’ve now got charging problems, leaking ballast tanks, computer and satellite comms problems, and sail damage, so I just want to get her to the finish in one piece.

"You know, you have to play the game, and sometimes it works in your favour, sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s yacht racing. In this race, it really has been a case of the last shall be first and the other way round too! I’m looking forward to the finish, definitely, now it’s so close. Whilst I think about it, can you sort me out with a burger and chips when I arrive - don’t forget to bring some ketchup with you!”