Route du Rhum 1500 positions

Afternoon update from the singlehanded transatlantic race

Loick Peyron has shifted up to second overall in the multihull class by taking a route that took him down to Cape Finistere before tacking out to sea. Will this be the year the southerly route pays? With 50 knots winds forecast in 24 hours time it is possible that the prudent move for the finely tuned trimarans is to stay out of trouble and stay well to the east before turning southwest and heading for the Trade Winds.

It is interesting to note that over the last few hours both Fujifilm and Rexona Men have been making better speed than the boats closer to the rhumb line, indicating that the sea state where they are is better for sailing fast than it is for those closer to the rhumb line such as leader Thomas Coville's Sodebo or Alain Gautier on Foncia.

Bonduelle looks set to restart tomorrow, while Giovanni Soldini has now officially retired.

Among the monohulls, the top three Open 60s have further extended and Jean-Pierre Dick's Virbac appears to be on a course towards La Coruna. A new face in the top six is semi-pro sailor Didier Munduteguy, a former Vendee Globe competitor, while Miranda Merron has dropped to a still very impressive seventh, given the age of her boat.

Positions 12/11/02 15:00:00 GMT
Pos	Name	Skipper	Lat	Long	Dist	Vit	Cap
60ft tris
1	Sodebo	Thomas Coville	46 03.68' N	13 06.88' W	3053.5	7.8	207
2	Fujifilm	Loick Peyron	43 19.76' N	11 26.16' W	3067.8	12.9	191
3	Rexona Men	Yvan Bourgnon	43 58.36' N	11 40.60' W	3069.5	15.6	192
4	Foncia	Alain Gautier	45 42.72' N	12 16.84' W	3079	8.2	249
5	Sopra Group	Philippe Monnet	44 34.60' N	11 01.44' W	3107.3	10.3	299
6	Banque Populaire	Lalou Roucayrol	47 39.04' N	11 56.48' W	3132.5	8.9	312
7	Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm	Marc Guillemot	47 11.44' N	11 35.96' W	3135.6	2.6	172
8	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	46 32.76' N	10 59.96' W	3145.7	2.9	302
9	Sergio Tacchini	Karine Fauconnier	45 04.88' N	10 10.64' W	3150.8	10.5	292
10	TechnoMarine	Steve Ravussin	47 57.32' N	10 03.52' W	3204.2	9.3	185
11	Belgacom	Jean-Luc Nélias	47 32.04' N	5 08.80' W	3391.4	11.2	78
12	Bonduelle	Jean Le Cam	48 16.80' N	4 35.32' W	3424.9	0.1	131
13	Bayer CropSciences	Frederic Le Peutrec	47 22.76' N	3 28.56' W	3455.1	13.5	8
14	TIM	Giovanni Soldini	47 43.20' N	3 22.02' W	3464.3	0.1	90
15	Gitana X	Lionel Lemonchois	47 35.22' N	3 01.50' W	3476	0.1	122
ABD	Groupama	Franck Cammas
ABD	Eure&Loir-Lorénove	Francis Joyon
ABD	Banque Covefi	Bertrand deBroc
Open 60s
1	Sill	Roland Jourdain	44 14.08' N	13 02.36' W	3009.9	5.8	256
2	Ecover	Mike Golding	45 41.52' N	13 49.04' W	3018.2	8.3	224
3	Kingfisher	Ellen McArthur	46 29.16' N	13 45.40' W	3038	6.2	235
4	Temenos	Dominique Wavre	46 49.92' N	13 05.12' W	3071.4	8	242
5	60ème Sud	Didier Munduteguy	47 11.60' N	12 15.64' W	3110.6	5.1	267
6	Virbac	Jean Pierre Dick	46 04.20' N	11 10.32' W	3130.1	4.3	153
7	Un Univers de Services	Miranda Merron	46 44.94' N	11 21.66' W	3131.6	4.5	275
8	Arcelor-Dunkerque	Joé Seten	48 39.00' N	12 32.36' W	3132.3	8.3	316
9	Garnier Belgium	Patrick De Radiguès	44 18.52' N	10 10.28' W	3137.3	9	189
10	L'Heautontimoroumenos	Antoine Koch	47 03.80' N	11 14.40' W	3146.8	7.3	183
11	Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma	Mike Birch	44 49.24' N	9 17.36' W	3182.2	8.7	185
12	Leasecom	Elie Canivenc	46 11.28' N	9 48.24' W	3182.2	6.5	183
13	Dinan Pays d'Entreprises	Frédéric Lescot	44 47.48' N	8 46.56' W	3202.7	7.9	301
14	Ciments St Laurent-Ocean	Georges Leblanc	45 17.84' N	7 32.00' W	3261.5	5	171
NL	VMI	Sébastien Josse
ABD	La Rage de Vivre	Loïck Pochet
NL	Millimages-Gédéon	Patrick Favre
Monos class 1
1	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	47 40.36' N	8 23.92' W	3268	6.1	286
ABD	Un Autre Regard Ensemble pour l'UNHCR	Nicolas  Peitrequin
Monos class 2
1	Ashfield Healthcare	Nick Moloney	48 13.24' N	11 36.88' W	3157	7.2	307
2	Florys	Luc Coquelin	47 09.68' N	10 27.88' W	3178.7	5.1	251
3	Mille Visages	Hervé Vachée	45 34.80' N	8 56.36' W	3209.4	6.2	289
4	Branec III	Roger Langevin	48 17.96' N	10 12.44' W	3211.3	6.5	313
5	Adecco Etoile Horizon	Bob Escoffier	45 41.00' N	8 21.72' W	3234.3	5.9	184
6	Laiterie St Malo	Clément Surtel	48 27.68' N	9 01.28' W	3259.2	7.6	297
7	Défi Vendéen	J. F. Durand	48 15.48' N	6 37.44' W	3353.8	10.3	116
8	République Dominicaine	Yannick Bestaven	47 34.80' N	4 49.32' W	3405	5.3	84
ABD	Apic A3S	Christophe Huchet
Monos class 3
1	Storagetek	Regis Guillemot	47 29.16' N	11 13.86' W	3152.4	3.8	229
2	Passion Entreprendre	Jérôme Thiriez	47 16.12' N	9 13.36' W	3228.7	6.1	284
3	Grain de Soleil	Etienne Svilarich	48 31.64' N	9 40.64' W	3235.8	6.8	305
4	Hellomoto	Conrad Humphreys	48 13.36' N	6 11.64' W	3362.4	7.2	289
5	Fantasy-Forest	Alain Grinda	48 43.14' N	3 57.96' W	3455.6	0	0
Multis class 2
1	Crepes Whaou!	F. Y. Escofier	46 04.16' N	13 18.12' W	3047.8	9.3	319
2	Yachting-casino.com	Anne Cazeneuve	46 09.24' N	11 18.18' W	3124.6	8.6	165
3	Vaincre la mucoviscidose	Hervé Cleris	44 51.48' N	10 37.00' W	3128.8	6.4	277
4	Archipel Guadeloupe	Claude Thelier	43 24.20' N	9 47.12' W	3141.5	9.3	187
5	Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre	P.Y. Guennec	44 40.72' N	7 11.48' W	3267.9	3.2	203
6	Groupe France Epargne	Patrick Morvan	48 43.12' N	3 57.92' W	3455.4	0.7	196
7	E-Sat Tri Sélectif	Pascal Quintin	48 38.82' N	2 49.44' W	3498.4	0	270
ABD	Chaleur Fioul Elan	Didier Levillain