Dice recast

Foncia takes the lead as Transat Jacques Vabre Open 60s emerge from the Doldrums

Friday November 16th 2007, Author: James Boyd, Location: Transoceanic

Images courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems

Positions at 1100

Pos	Boat	Crew	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Dist	DTF	DTL
					Inst		4hr av		24 hrs

	Open 60s
1	Foncia	DESJOYEAUX Michel/LE BORGNE Emmanuel	4 10.71' N	27 34.31' W	9.5	201	8.9	201	9.1	217.7	1230.7	0
2	VM Matériaux	LE CAM Jean/MORVAN Gildas	4 46.31' N	28 42.09' W	8.1	204	8.6	208	10.1	241.9	1231.8	1.2
3	Cheminées Poujoulat	STAMM Bernard/CARIOU Tanguy	4 25.51' N	27 07.67' W	6.3	208	6.5	213	7.8	186.7	1256.7	26.1
4	Safran	GUILLEMOT Marc/CAUDRELIER Charles	4 16.30' N	26 36.12' W	8.1	212	7.3	206	8.2	196.6	1265.2	34.5
5	Ecover III	GOLDING MIKE/DUBOIS Bruno	4 09.16' N	26 08.41' W	6.4	194	8.2	206	6.4	153.9	1274.3	43.6
6	Groupe Bel	DE PAVANT Kito/COL Sébastien	4 25.53' N	25 58.50' W	8.2	201	7.4	197	6.2	148.6	1293.4	62.7
7	Brit Air	LE CLEAC'H Armel/TROUSSEL Nicolas	4 44.14' N	25 32.21' W	6.8	187	7.3	189	6.9	164.9	1323.5	92.8
8	Gitana Eighty	PEYRON Loick/LEVAILLANT Jean Baptiste	5 08.33' N	24 39.87' W	9.6	216	6.4	193	3.9	93.3	1373.4	142.7
9	Roxy	DAVIES Samantha/GREGOIRE Jeanne	6 33.65' N	26 41.77' W	10.7	206	11.3	198	10.7	256.2	1375.5	144.8
10	Generali	ELIES Yan/AUDIGANE Sébastien	6 32.57' N	26 44.84' W	10.3	195	11.5	197	10.2	244.3	1378.8	148.1
11	Maisonneuve	DEJEANTY Jean Baptiste/LAURENT Hervé	8 27.96' N	27 02.56' W	13.6	200	11.4	198	11	264.8	1474.5	243.8
12	Akena Vérandas	BOISSIERES Arnaud/CHOMETTE Jean Philippe	9 36.37' N	24 56.76' W	10.1	192	8.8	192	9.6	229.6	1591.4	360.7
13	Aviva	CAFFARI Dee/KING Nigel	12 03.22' N	25 24.26' W	8.9	258	8.3	217	9.8	236.2	1710.5	479.8
14	Cervin EnR	BESTAVEN Yannick/GUERIN Ronan	12 03.44' N	24 38.46' W	10.1	194	8.8	201	9.7	231.9	1730.1	499.4
15	Pakea Bizkaia 2009	BASURKO Unai/GANDARIAS Gonzalo	14 51.81' N	23 17.57' W	8.8	222	8	208	8.7	207.7	1915.9	685.2
16	Great American III	WILSON Rich/BIRCH Mike	17 44.48' N	22 41.32' W	12.8	178	8.4	230	8.4	201.8	2086.3	855.6
ABD	Artemis	MALBON Jonny/TOURELL Graham


1	Groupama	CAMMAS Franck/RAVUSSIN Steve	10j 0h 38m 43s								0
2	Gitana 11	LEMONCHOIS Lionel/GUICHARD Yann	10j 9h 49m 6s								0
3	Banque Populaire	BIDEGORRY Pascal/RAVUSSIN Yvan	10j 16h 57m 57s								0
4	Brossard	BOURGNON Yvan/VINCENT Jacques	11j 1h 15m 9s								0
5	Sopra	KOCH Antoine/GENDRON Grégory	11j 11h 23m 30s								0

	50ft multis
1	Crèpes Whaou !	ESCOFFIER Franck Yves/FAUCONNIER Karine	4 12.06' N	25 50.65' W	8.4	190	7.2	207	5.4	130.1	1286.6	0
2	Laiterie de Saint Malo	ERUSSARD Victorien/DAHIREL frédéric	6 53.27' N	28 02.62' W	17.3	191	16.4	189	11.6	278.4	1363.8	77.1
3	Croisières Anne Caseneuve	CASENEUVE Anne/HOUDET Djamina	10 23.43' N	26 29.53' W	10.8	197	13.8	186	11.1	267.1	1593.2	306.5
4	NIM Intérim Management	ROUCAYROL Lalou/VAN DEN BROEK Pierre	14 06.30' N	22 12.72' W	17.8	239	10.3	237	9.3	223	1905.2	618.6
5	Négoceane	LANGEVIN Roger/LANGEVIN Alexis	16 27.20' N	23 15.33' W	9.7	183	6.9	198	7.1	171.4	2002.5	715.9
6	Victorinox	MONNIER Dany/DUPUY Pierre	17 22.61' N	20 54.05' W	7.4	166	8.1	201	8.9	213.6	2113.6	826.9
7	DZ energy.com	DE CARLAN Hervé/DE CARLAN Nolwenn	22 41.64' N	19 18.37' W	12	205	11.4	208	7.4	176.7	2437.2	1150.5
ABD	Avocet 50	LILTI Jean-François/GOSSELIN Xavier

	Class 40
1	Chocolats Monbana	GRIMONT Damien/Le Roux Erwan	16 18.96' N	21 53.64' W	9.2	180	8.3	223	8.3	199.7	2030.4	0
2	ATAO Audio System	VITTET Dominic/CHABAGNY Thierry	15 45.92' N	20 47.00' W	9	225	10	228	8.6	206.4	2032.9	2.5
3	A.ST Groupe	EMIG Marc/de BROC Bertrand	16 19.32' N	21 35.16' W	8.2	240	8.1	201	8.3	199	2039.1	8.7
4	40 Degrees	HARDING Peter/LIARDET Anne	17 11.68' N	22 37.72' W	9.2	192	8.9	242	7.9	189.2	2058.2	27.8
5	Sidaction	AUBRY Arnaud/CARPENTIER Antoine	17 23.84' N	22 02.84' W	9.2	269	9.3	244	8.2	198	2083.9	53.5
6	Deep Blue	ARTHAUD Florence/POUPON Luc	17 12.36' N	21 38.56' W	8.4	196	8.5	215	8.5	204.4	2084.4	54
7	Siegena Aubi	LE PESQUEUX Marc/CUBILLOS Felipe	16 54.76' N	21 01.40' W	8.4	188	7.8	216	8.6	207.2	2085.8	55.4
8	Vecteur Plus - Groupe Moniteur	JOURDREN Bruno/PICHELIN Nicolas	17 22.08' N	21 36.84' W	9.2	203	8.7	213	8.7	208.2	2093.7	63.3
9	Groupe Partouche	COATNOAN Christophe/LEBAS Christophe	17 00.40' N	20 53.04' W	9.8	170	9.5	176	8.3	198.5	2094.6	64.2
10	En avant les enfants!	BERREHAR Yvon/BIBOT Gérald	17 22.04' N	21 01.24' W	8	184	8.5	189	8.5	205.1	2106	75.6
11	Thirard	DOIN Pascal/DEFERT Eric	17 38.48' N	20 29.16' W	8.4	178	8.5	215	9.2	221.4	2131.2	100.8
12	E Leclerc Ville La Grand	VIANT Jean-Michel/MAGRE Olivier	17 40.00' N	20 26.92' W	10.2	168	10.1	172	8.9	212.6	2141.4	110.9
13	Mistral Loisirs - Elior	BOUCHARD Thierry/KRAUSS Oliver	18 04.92' N	21 06.44' W	10.6	210	9.1	231	8.7	209	2145.1	114.7
14	Merci les amis !	POUJOL Cecile/BEAUVAIS Rémi	18 02.12' N	20 29.56' W	11.2	180	10	178	8.4	202.1	2159.4	129
15	Jardin Bio - Prévoir	PARNAUDEAU Benoît/CASO Jean-Christophe	18 35.04' N	20 51.64' W	10	195	10.1	190	9	217	2173.3	142.9
16	Grassi Bateaux	GALMARD Eric/GRASSI Olivier	18 10.28' N	20 06.40' W	10.8	246	7.7	225	8	192.1	2177.3	146.9
17	Clarke Offshore Racing	CLARKE Simon/LINDSAY David	18 56.76' N	21 27.20' W	10	190	10.2	189	8.6	206.5	2182.1	151.7
18	EDF Energies Nouvelles	AUGEIX David /MARCHAND Nicolas	19 31.88' N	21 22.00' W	8.6	186	9.3	194	8.4	200.5	2215.7	185.3
19	Concise	GOHL Dan / GALL Tom	19 20.80' N	20 37.84' W	10.2	200	9.6	199	8.8	211.5	2224.9	194.5
20	Commerce équitable	CRIQUIOCHE Jean-Edouard/DUC Louis	19 19.56' N	20 16.36' W	8.6	204	9.3	194	9.2	220.4	2228.7	198.3
21	Nous Entreprenons	FOURNIER Jacques/JANTET André	19 22.60' N	20 30.88' W	9.8	184	9.8	189	8.3	199.9	2229.5	199.1
22	Groupe Sefico	REGNIER Lionel/CAVAN Pierre Yves	19 45.96' N	20 40.56' W	8.4	203	9.3	200	8.9	214.8	2246	215.6
23	Merena	GUILLAUME Alexis/BOON FALLEUR Bernard	21 06.84' N	19 08.68' W	7.4	198	9.3	198	7.7	184.7	2357.9	327.5
24	Gonser Group	LEFEBVRE David/GONSER Florian	21 59.36' N	18 08.48' W	9.2	198	9.2	197	6.4	152.8	2431.2	400.8
NL	Appart City	NOBLET Yvan/MORVAN Patrick
NL	Télécom Italia	SOLDINI Giovanni/D'ALI Pietro
NL	Novedia Set Environnement	DE LAMOTTE Tanguy/BUBB Nick
NL	Pindar 40	ROYLE JO/BARRIER Alexia
ABD	Fujifilm	BENNETT Alex/PEDLEY Ifor
ABD	Kazimir Partners

The final two of the five ORMA 60 trimarans arrived at the finish line off Salvador de Bahia yesterday with Yvan Bourgnon's Brossard taking fourth place ahead of Antoine Koch's Sopra.

More war stories have been emerging. During the race Gitana II scored their speed record of 37.4 knots and on three occasions they buried the boat bow down up to the mast... "I've never been as fast before," commented skipper Lionel Lemonchois.

Open 60s

The IMOCA case in the Transat Jacques Vabre continues to be a naitbiter. While Mike Golding and Bruno Dubois on Ecover lead into the Doldrums overnight the boats to the west have won out and the latest position update has Michel Desjoyeaux's race favourite Foncia leading but only by 1.2 mile from Jean le Cam and Gildas Morvan on VM Materiaux, the latter having taken the most westerly course of the leaders as they pass south through the Doldrums.

The transformation in the leaderboard is best summed up by looking at the table above - Foncia and VM averaged 9.1 and 10.1 knots respectively over the last 24 hours while Ecover III made 6.4 and poor Loick Peyron on Gitana made just 3.9. At ,around midnight last night Foncia, Cheminees Poujoulat, Safran and Ecover III were all pretty much on the same latitude Foncia and Ecover at the western and eastern extremities separated by 80 miles. As we predicted yesterday Gitana paid the biggest penalty by being furthest east and has plummeted from second to eighth place and judging from the wind radar image below (where the black indicates rain) are getting quite wet at the moment...

The image above is supposed to depict what is really happening with the wind (as opposed to the forecast) and indicates the Foncia is the boat mostly likely to break through the Doldrums in first, along with Bernard Stamm and Tanguy Cariou on Cheminees Poujoulat (not shown, but just to Foncia's east). However the image also indicates some Doldrums action at around 2degN, so the boats may not be out of the woods just yet.

While there may now be 25 mile gap between second and third, the boats remain relatively equal in terms of their latitude and the boats to the east may prove to be on a faster angle as they emerge from the Doldrums into the southeasterly trades.

Sam Davies reports from Roxy - who have just overhauled Generali , pulling up to ninth:

“Hello! It's hot out here, in T-shirt and shorts in the middle of the night; you can tell we're nearing the doldrums, as it is humid, the wind is shifty, and (although the sky is cloudless) there is so much electricity in the air that there are lightning flashes everywhere. We've just overtaken Generali, and changed from being the hunters to being the hunted! They're astern on our quarter. They must have been doing a sail change because we passed them quickly. There is a nervous anticipation on board Roxy, as the Doldrums can bring huge calms, and also big squalls with too much wind inside, and these conditions can be dangerous. We are going to be careful. However, at present, the doldrums are not too active, so hopefully Neptune will let us out unscathed!”

Class 40s

According to the latest position update Damian Grimont's Chocolats Monbana has moved into pole in the Class 40s, but this is only because the position of Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d'Ali's Telecom Italia has not registered.

At present the Class 40s are lining up for the Cape Verdes. Having sailed down the African coast as long as they dare, the front runners have now all gybed on to starboard and as was the case at the Canaries there seems to be all manner of tactics taking place in terms of how to tackle the Cape Verdes. The Italians and Dominique Vittet on ATAO Audio Systems are on a course taking them to the east and south of the islands, while Peter Harding and Anne Liardet on 40 Degrees are leading the charge in a group of boats that will leave the island to port (they have Vecteur Plus and the lead Pogo 40 Sidaction astern of them). Others such as Chocolats Monbana, AST Groupe and Tanguy de laMotte and Nick Bubb on Novedia Set Environnement are lining up to pass through the islands.

From the forecast charts it is hard to see exactly what is likely to happen other than that the northeast wind is set to drop substantially tonight with the most wind to the southeast of the islands and the wind slightly more backed to the south of the islands. The Cape Verde are extremely high islands and leave a massive wind shadow so the prudent course of action is certainly going to be giving the islands a wide berth.

Among the Brits, Peter Harding is currently leading while Simon Clarke and David Lindsay are 17th, easternmost of the boats still heading south, while Jo Royle and Alexia Barrier are up to 17th on the Pindar 40, taking an easterly route the wake of Soldini and Vittet and the Bear of Britain nippers on Concise are in 19th in the middle of the course.

Looking ahead, come Saturday and the northeasterly wind is expected to go light and will remain this way until Sunday afternoon when the wind is set to build again from the left side of the race track.