Tabarly pulls off a flier

To take the lead in the Figaro's two handed Trophee BPF race to Senegal

Erwan Tabarly and Philippe Vicariot on board Thales cruised into the lead of the Figaro's two handed Trophee BPE race between St Nazaire and Dakar, Senegal.

The boats were this afternoon sailing down the coast of Portugal and were being subject light winds of 3-6 knots and major shifts in wind direction. Tabarly and Vicariot gained the lead by taking a risky flier inshore. However the area off the Portugese coast is very light and shifty at the moment and a major change in the gradient wind inshore today has seen the wind back all the way round from the north to the west.

Nonetheless Tabarly and Vicariot were this afternoon leading by seven miles as the chasing pack have been heading more offshore where there looks to be better pressure.

These conditions are in stark contrast to Tuesday night when the boats were surfing at up to 18 knots.

Positions at 1700

Pos	Boat	Crew	Lat	Long	DTF
1	THALES	Erwan TABARLY Philippe VICARIOT	41 05 N	010 10 W	565
2	BOSTIK FINDLEY	Charles CAUDRELIER BENAC Pascal BIDEGORRY	41 17 N	010 15 W	572
3	"CRÊPES WHAOU !"	Franck-Yves ESCOFFIER Marc GUESSARD	41 18 N	010 15 W	573
4	DAVID OLIVIER	ERIC DROUGLAZET Sébastien AUDIGANE	41 31 N	010 35 W	574
5	CREALINE	Armel LECLEAC'H Nicolas TROUSSEL	41 20 N	010 13 W	575
6	PETIT NAVIRE LE BON GOUT DU LARGE	Thierry CHABAGNY Corentin DOUGUET	41 32 N	010 39 W	576
7	DAUC'Y CARAIBOS	Bruno JOURDREN Yann ELIES	41 34 N	010 42 W	577
8	CERCLE VERT	Gildas MORVAN Bertrand PACE	41 34 N	010 42 W	577
9	ESCAL'ATLANTIC	Ronan GUERIN Frédéric GUILMIN	41 21 N	010 12 W	577
10	MYRIALIS	Dominic VITTET Bertrand de BROC	41 36 N	010 42 W	578
11	L'ESPRIT D'EQUIPE	Lionel PEAN Jean de RIBEROLLES	41 23 N	010 06 W	580
12	AQUARELLE.COM-CHARENTE MARITIME	Ronan COINTO Yannick BESTAVEN	41 50 N	010 59 W	584
13	VILLE DE CHERBOURG CREDIT MUTUEL	Alexandre TOULORGE Laurent PELLECUER	41 48 N	010 44 W	588
14	SKIPPER AG2R	Jeanne GREGOIRE Gérald VENIARD	41 51 N	010 51 W	588
15	SCARLET Telecom	Sander BAKKER Marten JAN RINGERS	41 38 N	010 12 W	592
16	SECTOR	Corrado AGUSTA Adrian FAIERS	41 52 N	010 32 W	596
17	TETRAKTYS	Pascal DESMARETS Philippe HANIN	42 13 N	010 29 W	615
18	SOR - TMC	Christophe BOUVET Alexandre PERAUD	42 23 N	009 53 W	637