Ellen lining up for finish line

A report from the Route du Rhum + 1100 positions

155 miles to go and Ellen MacArthur looks set to cross the finish line of the Route du Rhum in first place. But the posisbility of beaten Michel Desjoyeaux on elasped time is looking less likely. Geant is currently 406.8 miles astern and although Desjoyeaux has slowed up in the last few hours, his 24 hour average is still 422 miles. So at present he is less than a day behind Kingfisher.

From on board Kingfisher Ellen reported:

"Right now we are in our final stretch to the island and we are hoping that we will see Guadeloupe some time tomorrow.

"It’s a little bit stressful at the moment. We are sailing in a straight line direct to the island so technically there is very little we can do except sail the boat but, at the same time, we know once we get there things are going to be very very difficult.

"We have a very interesting route we have to sail once we get there. We have to sail right round to the western side and then back round underneath the southern side to the finish.

"From the time we actually get to the island it’s a further 50 to 60 miles so a massive day tomorrow. Trying to get sleep and prepare yourself for that is going to be quite a tough one. I know that the finish is going to be really hard so lets just hope we can keep the breeze until we cross the line...."

Ellen's win is already starting a media frenzy in France with a) a woman winning the Route du Rhum (it would be the second time this has happened - Florence Arthaud won in 1990), b) potentially she might be the fastest elasped time boat in the race - the first time this has EVER happened c) second singlehanded transatlantic race Ellen has won (her first was the 2000 Europe 1 New Man STAR d) there will be comparisons with the Vendee Globe where Michel Desjoyeaux finished narrowly ahead of her.

Positions 22/11/02 11:00:00 GMT
Pos	Boat name	Skipper	Lat	Long	Dist	SOG	COG
60ft trimarans
1	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	20 50.52' N	53 57.96' W	562.1	17.5	230
2	Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm	Marc Guillemot	20 32.12' N	49 34.28' W	766.7	15	265
3	Banque Populaire	Lalou Roucayrol	21 51.76' N	48 54.00' W	839.2	18.8	227
ABD	Fujifilm	Loick Peyron
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	Foncia	Alain Gautier
ABD	Groupama	Franck Cammas
ABD	Rexona Men	Yvan Bourgnon
ABD	Sodebo	Thomas Coville
ABD	TIM	Giovanni Soldini
ABD	TechnoMarine	Steve Ravussin
ABD	Gitana X	Lionel Lemonchois
ABD	Eure&Loir-Lorénove	Francis Joyon
ABD	Bonduelle	Jean Le Cam
Open 60s
1	Kingfisher	Ellen McArthur	17 12.20' N	60 06.00' W	155.3	12.4	223
2	Ecover	Mike Golding	17 46.64' N	58 32.24' W	244.6	12.6	221
3	Arcelor-Dunkerque	Joé Seten	20 33.68' N	49 20.04' W	787	12.9	236
4	Sill	Roland Jourdain	22 01.08' N	48 16.16' W	875.1	12.1	244
5	Garnier Belgium	Patrick De Radiguès	20 12.32' N	40 47.76' W	1247.9	12.2	274
6	60ème Sud	Didier Munduteguy	24 20.40' N	38 40.56' W	1419.3	10.1	272
7	Un Univers de Services	Miranda Merron	23 39.30' N	36 54.84' W	1490.7	10.5	255
8	Millimages-Gédéon	Patrick Favre	26 04.00' N	34 27.00' W	1660.7	16.1	194
9	Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma	Mike Birch	23 19.28' N	33 30.04' W	1680.5	10.8	274
10	Ciments St Laurent-Ocean	Georges Leblanc	27 05.60' N	29 38.36' W	1934.2	5.5	171
ABD	Virbac	Jean Pierre Dick
NL	Dinan Pays d'Entreprises	Frédéric Lescot
ABD	VMI	Sébastien Josse
ABD	La Rage de Vivre	Loïck Pochet
NL	L'Heautontimoroumenos	Antoine Koch
NL	Leasecom	Elie Canivenc
ABD	Temenos	Dominique Wavre
Class 1 monos
1	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	31 14.28' N	30 35.00' W	1963.8	8.1	216
ABD	Un Autre Regard Ensemble pour l'UNHCR	Nicolas  Peitrequin
Class 2 monos
1	Ashfield Healthcare	Nick Moloney	26 30.68' N	41 20.00' W	1333	11.7	277
2	Florys	Luc Coquelin	26 00.92' N	37 52.40' W	1492.9	8.3	253
3	Branec III	Roger Langevin	27 21.68' N	37 41.04' W	1531.9	9	251
4	Mille Visages	Hervé Vachée	26 16.08' N	34 39.88' W	1661.5	7.1	255
5	Laiterie St Malo	Clément Surtel	27 15.84' N	34 49.00' W	1672.5	11.1	248
6	Adecco Etoile Horizon	Bob Escoffier	26 43.12' N	24 59.76' W	2172.2	7.6	225
ABD	Apic A3S	Christophe Huchet
ABD	République Dominicaine	Yannick Bestaven
ABD	Défi Vendéen	J. F. Durand
Class 3 monos
1	Storagetek	Regis Guillemot	27 49.08' N	37 29.40' W	1547.5	9.3	243
2	Passion Entreprendre	Jérôme Thiriez	28 55.12' N	30 37.48' W	1914.5	7	242
3	Grain de Soleil	Etienne Svilarich	31 10.64' N	27 23.16' W	2119.3	8.3	200
ABD	Hellomoto	Conrad Humphreys
ABD	Fantasy-Forest	Alain Grinda
Class 2 multis
1	Crepes Whaou!	F. Y. Escofier	21 28.32' N	50 04.36' W	782.8	12.8	243
2	Yachting-casino.com	Anne Cazeneuve	23 07.80' N	42 41.16' W	1179.3	10.3	289
3	Vaincre la mucoviscidose	Hervé Cleris	24 12.78' N	37 58.20' W	1454.1	9.6	276
4	Archipel Guadeloupe	Claude Thelier	22 48.36' N	37 15.66' W	1470.9	11.8	271
5	Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre	P.Y. Guennec	27 40.12' N	30 38.04' W	1897.7	6.8	220
ABD	E-Sat Tri Sélectif	Pascal Quintin
ABD	Groupe France Epargne	Patrick Morvan
ABD	Chaleur Fioul Elan	Didier Levillain