Day 19,
1600 HRS GMT. Rankings, (FRA, unless stated)
1- Seb Josse (BT) at 19626.2 miles to the finish
2- Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) + 6.4 miles to leader
3- Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) at + 14 miles to leader
4. Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) at +14.6 miles
5. Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment) at +22.7 miles
Selected International
9- Mike Golding, GBR, (ECOVER 3) at + 46.2 miles
11- Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) at + 190.5 miles
12- Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos 2) at + 206.4 miles
13- Sam Davies, GBR, (ROXY) at + 240.7 miles
15- Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA) at + 394.4 miles
17- Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) at + 639.2 miles
18 - Johnny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis) at + 720.6 miles
19- Unai Basurko, ESP, (Pakea Bizkaia) at + 758.2 miles
20- Rich Wilson, USA, (Great America III) at + 846.7 miles
22- Bernard Stamm, SUI, (Cheminées Poujoulat) at + 902.6 miles
23- Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) at + 1284.1 miles
24- Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) at + 1483.2 miles
IN SHORT WORDS
-Sébastien Josse holds the lead, with Loïck Peyron virtually in his tracks south
-Leaders have regrouped with Mike Golding (GBR) now just 20 miles west of the main group
- Fourth-placed Jean Le Cam currently taking the most radical line, heading south-east
- The hunt is on as chasing group take up to 100 miles out of the leaders
- Jean-Baptiste Dejanty crosses the Equator this morning, putting all 25 racing skippers in the southern hemisphere
The skippers might compare the current weather conditions to a game of chance or Russian Roulette, but Seb Josse’s manoeuvres at the front of the fleet seem more akin to a game of chess.
Yesterday evening the BT skipper wrestled the lead off the masterful Loïck Peyron, only for Peyron to inch ahead in this morning’s rankings. But it looks like Josse has learnt a few tricks from the grand master himself, as today’s tactics saw Josse head first from the east of the pack towards the south-west, staying in the best of the breeze, then tack back to position himself at the front of the fleet, pulling directly ahead of Peyron and third-placed Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air).
This close-quarters manoeuvres led some skippers to say, “It's like racing in Quiberon Bay” today — after 19 days and almost 5,000 miles of sailing they are still neck and neck, to be expected during a coastal race maybe, but not an ocean marathon. The leading nine remain within 50 miles as they dive dead south — all except Jean Le Cam, currently showing fourth in this evening’s rankings, who has taken a south-easterly course of 117 degrees. Whether this is a brief response to a squall, or a strategy to head straight for the Cape of Good Hope — currently some 1,600 miles away, we can only wait and see…
Behind the front-runners the game appears simpler — climb as many miles on the boats in front as possible, with Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) and Dee Caffari (Aviva, GBR) both gaining over 60 miles from yesterday, and Jonny Malbon (Artemis, GBR) taking over 100 miles out of the front runners’ lead. But the boat that’s clocked up the most miles since the last position report (at 1000hrs GMT)? Steve White (GBR) in the venerable Toe in the Water, who is also showing the current fastest VMG (position update at 1500hrs GMT).
Bringing up the rear of the fleet, Jean-Baptiste Dejanty — who restarted from Les Sables d’Olonne after a week of repairs — crossed the Equator this morning, putting all 25 racing skippers in the southern hemisphere.
