Holding on tight

As the Route du Rhum leaders charge westwards + 1100 positions

Brisk trade wind conditions are making for some tough racing in the Route du Rhum. If these boats were fully crewed we would be using phrases such as 'idyllic conditions' and be feeling immensely jealous. On board Kingfisher and Ecover at the front of the Open 60 fleet, they are trying to keep the full main up and spinnaker in 25 knots winds.

The potential threat from the south of Roland Jourdain on board Sill is looking increasingly like a lost leader despite him picking up to fourth place - the wind has veered to the east leaving Bilou having to sail directly downwind.

Positions 18/11/02 11:00:00 GMT
Pos	Name	Skipper	Lat	Long	Dist	SOG	COG
60 tris
1	TechnoMarine	Steve Ravussin	28 19.28' N	42 09.16' W	1346.3	16.5	272
2	Banque Populaire	Lalou Roucayrol	34 18.12' N	38 17.96' W	1710.3	5	223
3	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	26 34.84' N	27 01.84' W	2063.5	17.9	217
4	Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm	Marc Guillemot	34 05.48' N	26 55.68' W	2198.8	13.7	198
5	Bonduelle	Jean Le Cam	41 11.10' N	8 42.30' W	3150.8	0.2	248
ABD	Banque Covefi	Bertrand deBroc
ABD	Sergio Tacchini	Karine Fauconnier
ABD	Sopra Group	Philippe Monnet
ABD	Bayer CropSciences	Frederic Le Peutrec
ABD	Belgacom	Jean-Luc Nélias
ABD	Fujifilm	Loick Peyron
ABD	Groupama	Franck Cammas
ABD	Rexona Men	Yvan Bourgnon
ABD	Sodebo	Thomas Coville
ABD	TIM	Giovanni Soldini
ABD	Gitana X	Lionel Lemonchois
ABD	Eure&Loir-Lorénove	Francis Joyon
ABD	Foncia	Alain Gautier
Open 60s
1	Kingfisher	Ellen McArthur	27 56.40' N	39 35.60' W	1454.1	14.5	287
2	Ecover	Mike Golding	27 47.64' N	38 49.16' W	1487.2	12.1	276
3	Arcelor-Dunkerque	Joé Seten	27 04.56' N	30 40.88' W	1876.3	10.8	210
4	Sill	Roland Jourdain	25 07.36' N	27 50.60' W	2004.3	12	237
5	60ème Sud	Didier Munduteguy	31 08.08' N	28 20.84' W	2069.2	6.7	188
6	Garnier Belgium	Patrick De Radiguès	26 41.16' N	25 45.20' W	2132	9.9	211
7	Un Univers de Services	Miranda Merron	29 18.06' N	25 11.82' W	2187.4	6.7	197
8	Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma	Mike Birch	31 15.12' N	22 20.20' W	2366.3	4	173
9	Dinan Pays d'Entreprises	Frédéric Lescot	33 36.60' N	20 59.76' W	2469.1	4.3	215
10	Ciments St Laurent-Ocean	Georges Leblanc	35 52.92' N	20 14.00' W	2544.7	9.1	203
11	Leasecom	Elie Canivenc	42 35.84' N	8 46.28' W	3168.3	0	0
ABD	Virbac	Jean Pierre Dick
ABD	VMI	Sébastien Josse
ABD	La Rage de Vivre	Loïck Pochet
NL	L'Heautontimoroumenos	Antoine Koch
ABD	Temenos	Dominique Wavre
NL	Millimages-Gédéon	Patrick Favre
Class 1 monos
1	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	39 43.56' N	23 08.92' W	2499.6	7.1	232
ABD	Un Autre Regard Ensemble pour l'UNHCR	Nicolas  Peitrequin
Class 2 monos
1	Ashfield Healthcare	Nick Moloney	32 20.32' N	26 59.04' W	2158.8	7.6	204
2	Mille Visages	Hervé Vachée	33 52.08' N	26 21.20' W	2220.5	8	224
3	Florys	Luc Coquelin	32 12.00' N	25 26.48' W	2230.2	2	231
4	Branec III	Roger Langevin	34 38.20' N	26 19.04' W	2239.1	8.5	228
5	Laiterie St Malo	Clément Surtel	34 28.74' N	22 56.10' W	2385.6	6.2	195
6	Adecco Etoile Horizon	Bob Escoffier	33 27.12' N	17 26.80' W	2638.6	8.4	165
7	Défi Vendéen	J. F. Durand	44 49.32' N	10 03.66' W	3155.6	3.1	35
ABD	Apic A3S	Christophe Huchet
ABD	République Dominicaine	Yannick Bestaven
Class 3 monos
1	Storagetek	Regis Guillemot	34 23.52' N	26 05.58' W	2233.3	7.6	203
2	Passion Entreprendre	Jérôme Thiriez	37 13.36' N	23 37.28' W	2419.1	7.8	194
3	Grain de Soleil	Etienne Svilarich	40 21.16' N	23 51.72' W	2486.2	7.2	224
4	Fantasy-Forest	Alain Grinda	47 52.20' N	3 54.84' W	3445	0.1	146
ABD	Hellomoto	Conrad Humphreys
Class 2 multis
1	Crepes Whaou!	F. Y. Escofier	29 04.56' N	35 07.36' W	1713.6	11.9	265
2	Yachting-casino.com	Anne Cazeneuve	29 39.96' N	30 06.30' W	1949.2	10.7	245
3	Vaincre la mucoviscidose	Hervé Cleris	30 45.18' N	23 31.14' W	2296.9	6.7	262
4	Archipel Guadeloupe	Claude Thelier	31 13.20' N	22 50.88' W	2337.8	6	245
5	Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre	P.Y. Guennec	34 57.36' N	19 56.24' W	2551.9	9.6	207
ABD	E-Sat Tri Sélectif	Pascal Quintin
ABD	Groupe France Epargne	Patrick Morvan
ABD	Chaleur Fioul Elan	Didier Levillain