Virbac on the charge

As leading monohull cross Bay of Biscay in the Transat Jacques Vabre

Positions at 0645

Pos	Boat	Lat	Long	DTF	DTL	Vmg	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs
	Open 60s					inst	inst	inst	over 1 hr		over 4 hrs		over 24 hrs
1	ECOVER	44 13.32' N	8 45.48' W	3818.5	0.0	9.4	9.4	224.0	9.9	228.0	9.7	212.0	8.0	191.2
2	VIRBAC	44 05.52' N	8 23.48' W	3821.8	3.4	10.4	11.3	240.0	12.3	247.0	11.3	250.0	8.9	213.7
3	SILL	45 13.80' N	10 05.04' W	3844.7	26.2	6.5	10.0	263.0	9.1	254.0	10.0	258.0	7.6	183.3
4	PRB	45 11.08' N	8 42.44' W	3871.1	52.7	7.4	9.0	241.0	9.7	251.0	9.2	253.0	7.6	181.9
5	VMI	45 39.00' N	8 40.76' W	3896.0	77.5	6.0	8.3	255.0	8.3	255.0	8.9	255.0	7.2	171.8
6	CHEMINEES POUJOULAT-ARMOR LUX	45 51.90' N	8 41.88' W	3896.6	78.1	5.7	9.4	263.0	9.4	263.0	9.2	254.0	7.7	184.6
7	TEAM COWES	45 15.40' N	7 38.72' W	3898.1	79.6	7.2	9.7	242.0	8.6	246.0	7.7	252.0	7.2	173.0
8	ARCELOR-DUNKERQUE	45 42.56' N	7 44.96' W	3918.9	100.5	5.7	9.0	256.0	8.7	260.0	9.3	271.0	6.6	158.6
9	CARREFOUR PREVENTION	45 53.16' N	8 01.84' W	3921.9	103.4	5.8	10.0	258.0	9.1	262.0	9.5	258.0	7.1	169.5
10	GARNIER	45 41.40' N	6 28.16' W	3943.6	125.1	7.9	9.4	250.0	9.1	249.0	8.4	248.0	6.2	149.5
11	60ème SUD	46 33.12' N	7 23.44' W	3969.8	151.4	5.1	7.0	256.0	7.5	260.0	7.6	258.0	6.3	151.6
12	ADECCO	47 35.20' N	3 58.04' W	4101.1	282.6	-0.7	9.0	234.0	6.5	124.0	6.4	127.0	2.6	62.2
13	LOIRE ATLANTIQUE	48 33.08' N	4 49.84' W	4125.2	306.8	9.2	8.7	221.0	10.1	235.0	9.2	239.0	5.7	137.6
14	TIR GROUPE	49 35.60' N	3 43.60' W	4203.2	384.7	7.5	6.0	228.0	8.0	236.0	5.2	203.0	1.7	41.7
ABD	CIMENT ST LAURENT
ABD	OBJECTIF 3
ABD	PINDAR
	50ft multihulls
ABD	MOLLYMAWK
ABD	ATLANTIC NATURE
	Open 50s
1	STORAGETEK	46 40.44' N	6 16.16' W	4000.7	0	4.5	8.5	151	4.9	188	5.8	238	5.2	123.9
2	HELLOMOTO	47 00.08' N	5 45.24' W	4028.7	27.9	5.6	6.9	244	6.5	245	7	236	4.9	118.5
3	BRANEC III	48 32.24' N	7 16.84' W	4073.8	73.1	8	8.1	234	8.7	235	8.1	239	4.8	115.5
4	DEFI VENDEEN	48 55.32' N	3 14.32' W	4194	193.3	11.6	12.3	266	12	269	10.9	288	1.9	45.2
ABD	LABESFAL

Over night Jean-Pierre Dick and Nicolas Abiven on board the Farr-designed Virbac have had the pedal to the metal and closed, according to the latest position reports, to within four miles of Mike Golding and Brian Thompson who continue to lead the Open 60 division of the Transat Jacques Vabre. In fact the distance between the boats will be slightly more than four miles as their positions were polled 12 minutes apart but as the figures indicate - Virbac has been sailed at between 2-3 knots faster than Ecover over the last few hours.

“We made the decision after passing Ushant to dive south and profit from the temporary wind shift to the west, so we could crack off and not be so hard on the wind as well, so we were averaging 12 knots boat speed with a more stable, softer wind - the end result? Well, we ended up on a better tack closer to the Spanish coast and we pulled in Ecover so we’re happy!” commented Jean-Pierre Dick.

From on board Ecover Mike Golding gave his reaction: “ Virbac have done a really good job to make up some ground, we think that obviously Virbac seems to be getting a better lift than us on the inside, so she's pointing closer to the mark and therefore gaining ground.  We knew we had a good boat for upwind, and we're pretty happy where we are against Sill, the best of the current boats, but obviously Virbac has found some good speed too. However, they are a new boat like Ecover and we're all still learning, there's more power in her to come and we've just got to find it.”

As the boats pass Cape Finistere on the northwest corner of Spain this morning, two different tactics are emerging. Virbac has taken a similar tactic to Ecover taking a long tack in towards the Spain coast before tacking off to the west southwest. They are the nearest to the Spanish mainland, some 30 miles off.

Meanwhile another group, led by Roland Jourdain and Alex Thomson on Sill tacked earlier and are now considerably further west - roughly 130 miles from Cape Finistere. PRB and Team Cowes are in the middle ground, further behind.

At present the boats are experiencing a slight lull between the storms, as tomorrow (Wednesday) it looks like the Open 60 fleet will be in for another kicking. The fronts associated with a depression centred to the northwest of the UK are forecast to be bring 40 knots southerlies with them. The warm front, lying on a north-south axis, appears to be moving north, so the front runners may be able to cut across its southern extent and use the strong southerly winds associated with it to gain some westing in before the wind veers back to the west. Competitors will also be watching a secondary low forming at the southern end of the warm front.

Other news in the fleet: TIR Groupe, skippered by Mike and Robert Birch, left Dartmouth at 2330hrs last night and are already passing Ushant racing at the back of the Open 60 fleet. Sebastien Josse and Isabelle Autissier sent in a message overnight to say that they are still surprised to be holding fifth place as their boat is more of a downwind rocket and not fast at all upwind. “We’ve broken a stanchion and lost one ARGOS beacon and otherwise are sitting tight for some following winds – but we’ve got at least 300m to wait!”

Leading Open 50 Storagetek, skippered by Regis Guillemot has suffered a few breakdowns but are still holding a 21m lead over Conrad Humphreys and Paul Larsen on board Hellomoto: “The wind instruments at the top of the mast have broken, which has brought down our radar and Mini C, and had quite a lot of water coming into the boat, plus the ARGOS beacon came out of its fitting.”

Ross Hobson and Andi Newman on the trimaran Mollymawk arrived in Queen Anne’s Battery in the small hours of this morning and are thinking that they may be able to repair the damage to their hull hole plus other bits and pieces, and are considering restarting - if they are allowed to by UNCL.

Radar wind chart showing the actual winds the boats are experiencing this morning



Forecast winds for 1800 today



Forecast winds for 0600 Wednesday