Snakes and ladders in the English Channel

Henry Bomby and Red first as Nick Cherry has his 15 minutes of fame in La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro fleet is making solid progress west down the Channel 24 hours after having set out from Deauville. Overnight the fleet rounded the Owers buoy out in the Channel southeast of Selsey Bill and then dived hard into the southeast side of the Isle of Wight to dodge the tide.

Nick Cherry on RedShift banged the right hand side of the fleet at this point and first to get tidal relief as he tacked across Sandown Bay. In doing so he momentariy (for a whole 15 minutes) pulled into the lead of the Solitaire fleet before the fleet was fully outgunned by Joan Ahrweiller and Nicolas Jossier on In Extenso Experts - Comptables, who took an offshore route past St Catherines. That one move has kept Jossier in first place all day since as (at 1500 UTC, the fleet was due south of Portland).

Jossier commented: “Everything's okay, I did not expect that! I struggled a little bit from the start and since dawn and the wind shifted, it allowed me to get ahead. I didn't sleep much last night - I only had two short naps this morning after hoisting the spinnaker. There were many wind changes last night, so I have not slept too much. Today the wind should increase, from behind which is positive for me. I'm pretty happy, it is a pleasure to be leading and I enjoy it!"

Aside from Cherry's moment in the sun, leading Brit today was Dartmouth's Henry Bomby on board Red. At 0600 UTC, Bomby was in 38th, by 0900BST he had charged through the fleet to fifth. The 23 year old has maintained his position with the leaders as the fleet passed Portland, he was lying fourth, 1.2nm off first place.

Henry Bomby: "Last night I questioned why I was doing the Solitaire, it's just too hard, so hard, but for sure it's easier when you're in 4th”

It's also been another great day for Irish skipper, David Kenefick on Full Irish. As well as celebrating his 23rd birthday today he must be pretty happy with his leg so far, rarely dropping below 15th in his this, his second shot at La Solitaire.

Around lunchtime the 38 sailors had a period of more consistent W / NW'ly wind as they raced between the Needles and Portland Bill. However, the home advantage did not appear to be paying off for the Brits, with 7 out of the 8 finding themselves in the bottom half of the fleet. Sam Matson (Artemis 21) is currently the highest place Artemis Offshore Academy rookie in 27th, 3.5nm behind the leader.

Alain Gautier (Generali) : "With this beautiful day, everything is good! Last night it did not go as well as I wanted. Prior to the night, I did not tack at the right time, I went too far so it's a mixed picture for me! This morning as well was surprising because I managed to come back and the I did not manage to catch the hook oto the right system. ... I have not been quite opportunistic but it's like that! "

Fabien Delahaye (Skipper Macif 2012):  "Many things happened, there has been a lot of transitions, and it did not necessarily go well for me. Wind returned this morning, which allowed me to get some rest. I'm in good shape, I do not feel tired and everything's ok on board, If we stick to the weather forecast, the wind should head a bit, go south – south, becoming lighter once again as of tonight, before coming back from the south ... I think we will still have a transition to pass.”

Official Positions 1618 BST
1. Nicolas Jossier (In Extenso Experts comptables) 328.6nm to Leg 1 finish in Plymouth
2. Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva) +0.5 3. Yann Elies (Groupe Queguiner Leucemie Espoir) +1.1nm
4. Henry Bomby (Red) +1.1nm
5. Damien Guillou (La Solidarite Mutaliste) +1.2nm
6. Joan Ahrweiller (Region Basse-Normandie) +1.6nm
7. Jeremie Beyou (Maitre Coq) +1.7nm
8. Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux) +1.9nm
9. Gildas Mahe (Interface Concept) +2.0
10. Charlie Dalin (Normandy Elite Team) +2.4nm

International Sailors as of 0936BST
4. Henry Bomby (Red) +1.1nm
16. David Kenefick (Full Irish) +2.9nm
23. Sam Goodchild (Team Plymouth) +3.3
25. Sam Matson (Artemis 21) +3.3nm
27. Nick Cherry (Redshift) +3.2nm
33. Alan Roberts (Artemis 23) +3.8nm
35. Rich Mason (Artemis 77) +3.6nm
36. Jack Bouttell (GAC Pindar) +4.2nm
38. Ed Hill (Macmillan Cancer Support) +7.0nm