The downwind rollercoaster

Front runners in both Transat Jacques Vabre fleets now basking in the trade winds conditions

Positions at 0900

Pos	Boat	DTF	DTL	vmg	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	Spd	Dist
							Inst		1hr av		4hr av		Over 24hrs
	Open 60s
1	VIRBAC	1956.4	0.0	14.2	16 48.24' N	25 55.20' W	14.1	195	14.2	196	15.5	206	15.5	373.0
2	SILL	2120.4	164.0	15.4	19 56.20' N	27 10.52' W	18.0	185	16.1	178	15.9	181	13.4	322.6
3	ECOVER	2158.0	201.6	14.5	19 44.64' N	24 25.56' W	19.2	238	14.6	195	14.3	193	13.9	333.7
4	PRB	2270.6	314.2	16.0	22 05.92' N	25 07.16' W	14.0	190	16.1	192	14.0	195	10.6	254.1
5	TEAM COWES	2297.2	340.8	11.9	22 54.36' N	26 50.28' W	14.1	221	12.6	214	11.4	198	10.2	243.7
6	VMI	2344.4	388.1	12.3	23 01.28' N	24 20.24' W	12.9	216	12.9	216	15.1	209	10.2	245.4
7	CARREFOUR PREVENTION	2370.4	414.0	14.4	23 39.44' N	24 31.60' W	13.0	197	14.4	198	13.2	199	8.5	203.2
8	ARCELOR-DUNKERQUE	2528.0	571.6	11.0	24 51.24' N	19 59.58' W	11.4	201	11.2	195	11.9	195	8.4	202.1
9	GARNIER	2650.0	693.6	5.8	27 38.52' N	21 54.48' W	10.0	248	9.0	251	8.9	250	5.8	139.9
10	LOIRE ATLANTIQUE	2801.4	845.0	6.0	29 12.04' N	18 36.04' W	11.5	266	11.6	264	11.8	264	4.8	116.1
11	60ème SUD	2815.1	858.7	6.2	30 23.04' N	21 18.28' W	6.0	234	6.7	224	6.8	209	6.3	150.8
12	ADECCO	2845.8	889.4	4.6	28 40.44' N	15 41.12' W	5.4	194	5.2	239	6.7	238	6.2	148.6
13	TIR GROUPE	2976.0	1019.6	7.9	30 22.12' N	14 04.08' W	8.3	179	10.1	171	9.8	177	7.2	172.5
ABD	CIMENT ST LAURENT
ABD	OBJECTIF 3
ABD	CHEMINEES POUJOULAT-ARMOR LUX
ABD	PINDAR
	60ft tris
1	GROUPAMA	1983.9	0	19.5	15 39.56' N	22 19.72' W	26	238	19.6	211	21.3	192	20.8	498.2
2	GEANT	2060.5	76.6	20.3	16 47.80' N	21 43.44' W	27	177	23.3	178	22.6	185	20.6	494.6
3	SERGIO TACCHINI	2119.5	135.6	17.2	17 39.56' N	20 53.48' W	20.4	236	17.3	214	18.1	208	17.9	428.5
4	BELGACOM	2170.2	186.3	18.8	19 40.26' N	22 35.58' W	19.1	195	19.1	195	21.1	190	18.4	441
5	BISCUITS LA TRINITAINE	2298	314.2	23	22 41.04' N	25 55.88' W	23.1	202	23.1	202	20.3	207	18	431.3
6	SODEBO	2415.6	431.7	21.9	23 21.72' N	21 44.24' W	19.3	199	21.9	204	20.9	206	15.8	378.9
7	SOPRA GROUP	2463.1	479.3	18.6	25 07.16' N	24 22.04' W	20	193	18.7	191	17.7	192	14.2	340.5
8	BANQUE POPULAIRE	2476	492.2	21.9	22 51.44' N	18 09.48' W	22	177	23.1	190	22.3	192	15.8	378.1
9	GITANA	2528.6	544.8	19.1	25 32.84' N	22 07.76' W	17.3	193	19.4	192	15.4	203	13.4	322.7
10	BONDUELLE	2585.7	601.8	18.9	26 07.80' N	20 55.52' W	13.3	200	18.9	198	19.6	187	10.5	251.4
11	FONCIA	2643.8	660	9.6	27 05.80' N	20 41.88' W	19.1	268	18.5	262	15.5	204	8	191.6
12	BAYER CROPSCIENCE	2911.2	927.3	3.1	31 35.40' N	19 46.64' W	6.3	244	4.2	244	8	246	6.4	152.5
13	BANQUE COVEFI	2980.4	996.5	8	32 20.12' N	18 22.36' W	9.2	239	8.3	221	7.4	210	8.4	200.7
ABD	TIM
	50ft multi
1	MOLLYMAWK	3287.2	0	4	34 43.20' N	11 02.82' W	5.5	158	5.2	160	4.9	198	5.1	121.7
ABD	ATLANTIC NATURE
	Open 50s
1	HELLOMOTO	2800.3	0	8.5	29 31.36' N	19 36.52' W	10.1	173	9.6	175	9.4	182	7.7	184
2	STORAGETEK	2857.3	57.1	7	29 46.68' N	17 28.00' W	19	239	7.2	194	7.4	206	7.3	175.6
3	DEFI VENDEEN	2955.4	155.2	3.8	31 44.40' N	18 00.40' W	4.1	189	3.9	193	4.7	195	4.8	115.5
ABD	LABESFAL
ABD	BRANEC III

Once again the leaders in both the Opoen 60 and 60ft trimaran classes have extended.

Over the last 24 hours Jean-Pierre Dick and Nicolas Abiven on board Virbac have increased their lead from 110 miles over Roland Jourdain and Alex Thomson on Sill yesterday at 0900 to an impressive 164 miles at the same time this morning. Groupamahas have extended, but not as much - 76 miles compared to 62miles yesterday. However in the three hulled class Michel Desjoyeaux and Herve Jan on board Geant have taken second place off Karine Fauconnier and Damian Foxall on Sergio Tacchini, the trimarans taking a more easterly route south to the Doldrums.

In the Open 60s PRB have managed to extend their lead over Sam Davies and Nick Moloney on board Team Cowes - for reasons which Sam explains on page two.

Alain Gautier and Ellen MacArthur on board Foncia are lying a disappointing 11th in the multis, 660 miles behind Groupama. They have experienced a tough 24 hours. After choosing not to sail between the Canary Islands yesterday morning as concerns grew about the inconsistency of the wind - they left the islands to port and immediately
ran out of wind. At one point yesterday afternoon they were only making 0.98 knots of speed going nowhere. They have averaged on 8 knots of boat speed in the last 24 hours compared to the 20 knot average achieved by Groupama.

Leading trimaran positions from 0900 today and yesterday