Ellen passes Ravussin and other news

An update from the Route du Rhum + 1500GMT positions

Ellen MacArthur continues to dominate the monohull race in the Route du Rhum, although conditions are still hard with Kingfisher maxed out under kite and full main, with the autopilot at the edge of control. At present the current figures still look as though there is a possibility of Kingfisher becoming the first ever elapsed time monohull winner in the Route du Rhum. But it is too early to tell at present.

Meanwhile aboard Ecover, Mike Golding has lost miles when he wrapped his kite round the forestay last night. Unable untangle the flailing sail from on deck, Golding was forced to go up the rig. At the time Golding was using his spare spinnaker, having lost his new 'stomper' only yesterday.

“I got to the top of the mast to rehoist the spinnaker, and quite simply it was totally twisted round the forestay and the inner forestay. I went aloft, got to the halyard and a rainsquall came along, really torrential rain and 30 knots of wind. I had to hang on for dear life. It’s really been quite scary.

"The second time I went up the rig, I managed to release the sail and let it fall – it was so badly wrapped on the inner forestay. I can use the Solent sail; I’m using it now, but not the trinquette, as that’s also tightly wound round too. I’m not really needing it though – I managed to cut a lot away. I’m flying a big Ecover flag! ”

The track of both Kingfisher and Ecover runs close to Steve Ravussel's capsized TechnoMarine. However the ballsey Swiss skipper Ravussin has not required emergency rescue - his shore crew is currently organising a rescue operation from Guadeloupe for him and his boat. Kingfisher and Ecover will continue racing.

Kingfisher has passed within 1.2 miles of Technomarine at approx 1630 GMT this afternoon. The proximity of the upturned boat felt unnatural for Ellen - to be so close yet not stop, in particular because it was on this very trimaran that she raced with Alain Gautier two handed to second place in last year's Transat Jacques Vabre.

"Yesterday I was thinking about him - thinking go for it, you're doing so well, so far ahead - and then this happens, poor guy, really feel for him," commented Ellen.

Following Ravussin's capsize last night only three of the 18 60ft trimarans remain in the race. Lalou Roucayrol on Banque Populaire in second place has discussed over the satellite phone with Marc Guillemot on Biscuits La Trinitaine, lying third, not to take any risks. "It is hallucinating to think that we are only three left out of the 18 trimaran strong fleet. The objective now is that the three of us get to Guadeloupe. In what position we get there is not the most important. These boats are fabulous to sail and all that has happened to the fleet is really tragic," said Roucayrol who is now spending at least 15 hours at the helm a day, not relying too much on the autopilot.

The winner of the Vendée Globe 2000, Michel Desjoyeaux on Géant is of course happy to be in the leading position, but the feeling is bittersweet. “I have been parachuted into the lead, thanks to the misfortune of the others. That is maybe not ideal,” he commented.

Further back in the monohull fleet, race veteran Mike Birch from Canada was enjoying the beautiful day. “It is a perfect, idyllic day for sailing. The wind is from north-northwest and it’s great sailing, but I would like to go a little bit faster and be closer to the others,” he commented. Birch’s Tir Groupé–Montres Yema is currently the 10th IMOCA monohull with Dinan Pays d’Entreprises and Ciments St Laurent- Ocean behind.

Nick Moloney on Ashfield Healthcare is still in a stable lead of the class 2 monohulls, as are Regis Guillemot on Storagetek of the class 3 monohulls, and Franck Yves Escoffier on Crêpes Whaou of the class 2 multihulls.

Nick Moloney commented from on board: "I'm well positioned against the rest of the fleet right now as the fleet are to the north and behind me.

"I've had a couple of frustrating days. We had some really fast running once we got out of the storm and then got straight into this high pressure system which I've been battling with for a few days.

"I took it on with a bit of frustration trying to get every last bit of speed out of the boat in two knots of wind but Mark [Turner] talked me around to use those opportunities to get some rest.

"I was completely shattered a couple of days ago but now I've got 10-15 knots of wind, full main, some sunshine and flat seas. It’s one of those magic moments and I'm really enjoying it."

Since Sunday Yvan Bourgnon and his shore team have tried to return the capsized boat Rexona Men to try to tow her into port. However, in the rough seas, with three to four metre waves, the Swiss skipper had to abandon his overturned boat last night. The ARGOS beacon is still working on board and the strong westerly winds are pushing the boat towards the Portuguese coast.

On page two Loick Peyron says farewell to Fujifilm

Positions 20/11/02 15:00:00 GMT
Pos	Nom	Skipper	Lat	Long	Dist	SOG	COG
60ft tri
1	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	25 59.96' N	42 05.52' W	1282.9	19.5	280
2	Banque Populaire	Lalou Roucayrol	29 24.36' N	40 17.80' W	1463.4	6.6	200
3	Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm	Marc Guillemot	24 46.16' N	37 08.28' W	1507.1	18.3	276
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	23 21.36' N	50 44.68' W	795.2	11.4	250
2	Ecover	Mike Golding	23 21.24' N	49 19.88' W	860.3	13.9	241
3	Arcelor-Dunkerque	Joé Seten	24 09.28' N	40 51.48' W	1302.5	11.8	235
4	Sill	Roland Jourdain	24 39.64' N	39 02.40' W	1406.3	13.4	269
5	L'Heautontimoroumenos	Antoine Koch	25 08.00' N	33 16.00' W	1643.2	10.7	276
6	Garnier Belgium	Patrick De Radiguès	21 43.28' N	32 53.20' W	1699.3	12.3	268
7	60ème Sud	Didier Munduteguy	27 08.12' N	33 57.48' W	1713.4	7	251
8	Millimages-Gédéon	Patrick Favre	29 20.00' N	29 54.00' W	1927.4	7.3	225
9	Un Univers de Services	Miranda Merron	23 46.32' N	28 24.18' W	1934.4	9.2	254
10	Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma	Mike Birch	26 53.04' N	28 52.00' W	1971.3	8.7	251
11	Dinan Pays d'Entreprises	Frédéric Lescot	28 45.52' N	27 17.80' W	2079.5	7.3	222
12	Ciments St Laurent-Ocean	Georges Leblanc	29 08.04' N	25 39.56' W	2168.4	5.7	233
ABD	Virbac	Jean Pierre Dick
ABD	VMI	Sébastien Josse
ABD	La Rage de Vivre	Loïck Pochet
NL	Leasecom	Elie Canivenc
ABD	Temenos	Dominique Wavre
Monos Class 1
1	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	35 13.24' N	25 51.72' W	2273	6.7	209
ABD	Un Autre Regard Ensemble pour l'UNHCR	Nicolas  Peitrequin
Monos Class 2
1	Ashfield Healthcare	Nick Moloney	27 06.28' N	33 15.96' W	1748	8.8	245
2	Florys	Luc Coquelin	28 11.96' N	31 53.92' W	1837.3	6.9	234
3	Branec III	Roger Langevin	29 36.16' N	31 56.88' W	1862.6	9.3	236
4	Mille Visages	Hervé Vachée	28 51.28' N	30 33.16' W	1916.9	6.6	222
5	Laiterie St Malo	Clément Surtel	29 24.32' N	28 55.40' W	2008.3	9.2	235
6	Adecco Etoile Horizon	Bob Escoffier	30 18.32' N	20 32.80' W	2443.8	8	223
ABD	Apic A3S	Christophe Huchet
ABD	République Dominicaine	Yannick Bestaven
ABD	Défi Vendéen	J. F. Durand
Monos Class 3
1	Storagetek	Regis Guillemot	30 14.10' N	32 16.44' W	1852.6	8	237
2	Passion Entreprendre	Jérôme Thiriez	31 45.56' N	27 01.28' W	2142.3	7.4	223
3	Grain de Soleil	Etienne Svilarich	36 08.72' N	26 01.92' W	2287	8.4	189
4	Fantasy-Forest	Alain Grinda	46 23.28' N	3 11.28' W	3453.5	8	97
ABD	Hellomoto	Conrad Humphreys
Multihulls Class 2
1	Crepes Whaou!	F. Y. Escofier	24 52.96' N	42 37.96' W	1232.4	10.6	287
2	Yachting-casino.com	Anne Cazeneuve	26 29.04' N	36 39.90' W	1546.9	8.7	194
3	Vaincre la mucoviscidose	Hervé Cleris	26 23.94' N	31 24.12' W	1812.4	12.6	249
4	Archipel Guadeloupe	Claude Thelier	27 18.66' N	31 42.42' W	1827.2	8.4	260
5	Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre	P.Y. Guennec	30 21.28' N	26 15.24' W	2160.9	6.9	232
ABD	E-Sat Tri Sélectif	Pascal Quintin
ABD	Groupe France Epargne	Patrick Morvan
ABD	Chaleur Fioul Elan	Didier Levillain