Transat AG2R: Phase two

Nacarat leads the charge out into the Atlantic

Chart courtesy of Expedition/Tasman Bay Navigation Systems and GRIB (European model) from PredictWind

Positions at 0930 UTC:

Yesterday the Transat AG2R fleet rounded the mark to the north of La Palma in the Canary Islands, with Nacarat leading the charge, rounding 48 minutes ahead of Cercle Verte, with Skipper MACIF and Gedimat locked in their own personal match race for third and with the Artemis Offshore Academy's Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry in eighth place 3 hours and 41 minutes after Nacarat.

Top 8 roundings: 

1 - Nacarat: Erwan Peron and Eric Tabarly minutes at 11h35 UTC
2 - Green Circle: Gildas Morvan and Charlie Dalin at 12:23
3 - Gedimat: Thierry Chabagny and Christopher Pratt at 13:24
4 - Skipper Macif: Fabien Delahaye and Paul Meilhat at 13:27
5 - Brittany Crédit Mutuel Performance: Anthony Marchand and Romain Attanasio at 14:11
6 - Banque Populaire Jeanne Gregory and Gerald Veniard at 14:26
7 - Sepalumic: Frederic Duthil and François Le Bourdais at 14:37
8 - Artemis: Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry at 15:16

Erwan Peron and Eric Tabarly on Nacarat reached the waypoint after 7 days and 35 minutes of racing. The competitors have rounded the mark and then he headed west to set out on the Atlantic crossing to St Barts. At the latest sched all but one of the 16 Figaros have rounded the mark.

The great circle to St Barts is 2546 miles from the turning mark on a course of 279°. However the boats are all heading south of this to different degrees.

The met situation over the next few days is somewhat unusual with the Azores high centred over the Azores until Monday night but then shifting south, centred to the west of the Canary Islands for the latter half of this week. As a result this will send boats further south than they would normally go.

Eric Peron commented: "We passed La Palma yesterday afternoon - there was not much wind and we had a little trouble to extricate ourselves. Behind, they have apparently struggled less, given the positions this morning. Here, for now it's alight, but in a few hours the options will emerge. There are two: a fairly option to head south in relatively strong trade winds that woudl require us to gybe in the coming hours. This move would take us into the wind shadow of the Canary Islands to pick up the trade winds off the Cape Verdes. Then there is a route a little more north using the shift from the anticyclonic. This is a bit shorter, and perhaps in a little less steady windy. The more we advance, the more we know what will happen, but the longer you wait, the less you will have a choice. So we have to bet in no time."