The gybing battle A good night’s sailing across the Bay of Biscay, gliding in a good northerly breeze from 13 to 15 knots, the fleet is still compact but the gybing battle has just started. Armel Le Cléac'h is till leading with a small margin on Yann Eliès and Thomas Rouxel.

New ETA for the leaders

According to the information provided by Météo France expert Sylvain Mondon the breeze last night was stronger than estimated, an additional 3 or 4 knots for the skippers approaching the high pressure ridge, who were able to sail at a steady pace over the last 12 hours. In fact they have been progressing southbound at around 8 knots. Despite slowing down earlier today, the leaders are still averaging 6 knots. The minimum wind intensity wil be at midday with a north-easterly flux from 5 to 7 for the first boats while the trailing ones will have to fight against very, very light air, not stronger than 4 knots.
The new ETA for the leading solo sailors, the best placed ones looking to be the ones further West, has been calculated between 2 and 8 a.m.

François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010), seventh placed at 4.30 : "I feel good"
“We’re sailing downwind under spinnaker with a good breeze, pretty pleasant actually. There are 15 knots, a bit more than the grib files were saying, and we’re trying to get the best out of it. This leg is going be remembered for long: the Channel was great, many options to choose from. I moved from the top ten to mid fleet so many times... I’m in the leading pack now and if I manage to keep the pace to the finish in Gijon it would be brilliant! I have still one or two gybes to make to be on port tack in the north-easterly airs… before getting near the Spanish coast, and that is going to be tricky. I feel ok, I slept and recharged my batteries.”

Western payback
With less than 100 miles to go, it looks like the best option is paying back. The leaders are on a more direct route to the finish and can sail with a better angle. Rookie Yoann Richomme (DLBC) is confirming his strategical and tactical ability, he took over Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit’Air) who is further East with most of the fleet. A small westerly group composed of 11 boats seems to be very well placed and is climbing up the rankings. Laurent Pellecuer (Arnolfini.fr) went ten places up and Jérémie Beyou (BPI) 4. Is this option going to be the best one to the finish? The answer at the next position report…

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Last Updated ( Friday, 30 July 2010 )