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7:58 PM Wed 4 Feb 2009 GMT
The duel between Sam Davies, GBR on Roxy and Marc Guillemot, Safran, is in the balance at the moment. Davies admitted to having second thoughts about her choice on this morning's radio vacations, but it will be Saturday before the net result is seen.
Guillemot's consistent speed advantage is telling as he heads round the west side of the anticyclone and while Davies is computed to be 200 miles ahead of Guillemot this afternoon in terms of distance to finish, he is over 100 miles further north.
Sam Davies:'I had about 30 knots, really bumpy sea, lots of banging and crashing around last night and lots of fun taking reefs and dropping reefs out. It is just dropping off now and so I have just shaken a reef out now. It is calming down. I am trying to get some rest because I figure that the next few days are going to be quite tricky, to get through the light winds and to get through the other side.
I am not sure if the weather files have changed, or whether my strategy has changed but I am not quite so sure any more that what I am doing the right thing any more, or if my strategy has changed, and I am wondering if I am about to learn the hard way, by a mistake, and lose some miles to Marco.
So I am a little bit less confident but I can't go back on my decision now, and I am just going to get through this as best as I can. I would never have done it differently looking, back, it is just part of the learning experience for someone who is doing the Vend?e Globe for the first time.'
Brian Thompson, Bahrain Team Pindar,has been sorting out another problem with his keel rams on Bahrain Team Pindar. He woke early this morning to discover that his keel was canted to the wrong side as a result of the hydraulic oil in his port rams leaking from a hose.
The leak is caused - he thinks - by the increase in pressure in the system due to only being able to use one starboard ram. When he spoke on the phone this morning he had been running for three hours with the keel canted to just over half the maximum.
'I had a dramatic morning. About five in the morning I woke up and the boat felt strange. I thought the bulb had fallen off or something, the boat felt very odd. I could not work it out for a few minutes, doziness.
Then I pushed the button to see where the keel angle was, and it was 20 degrees the wrong way. That was why the boat was heeling over and I was going slowly. So I went to look at where the port ram was and the whole area was full of oil, it had dumped all the oil out. So I took a couple of hours to clean it all up and work out what had happened, where it was coming from. I talked to Nick the boat captain and Cariboni in Italy.
I fixed it. I recovered as much oil as possible and canted the keel only to just above the middle, just to test it out. Now over the last two to three hours it has not leaked at all.'
Armel Le Cl?ac'h is now expected to finishsome time between Friday 09:00hrs GMT and Saturday 15:00hrs GMT which would mean Desjoyeaux's margin will be at least four and a half days and more likely five more than five days.
Le Cl?ach reported today that last night was probably the toughest of his race so far, with gusts to 60 knots and big, cross seas. He has slowed in Brit Air to around 9.5 knots and has averaged less than six knots over the midday period. Le Cl?ac'h was 380 miles off the NWW of Cape Finisterre and has 741 miles to make to the finish.
Vendee Globe Ranking - 15:00hrs GMT. Wednesday 4 February 2009 - FRA unless stated
1 . Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) finished after 84 days 3 hours, 9 minutes
2 . Armel Le Cl?ac'h (Brit Air) at 742 miles to finish
3 . Sam Davies (Roxy) at 2012 miles to finish
4 . Marc Guillemot (Safran) at 2211 miles to finish
5 . Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) at 2377.6 miles to finish
6 . Dee Caffari (Aviva) at 2634.8 miles to finish
7 . Arnaud Boissi?res (Akena V?randas) at 2373.1 miles to finish
8 . Steve White (Toe in the Water) 3998.5 miles to finish
9 . Rich Wilson (Great American III) at 5468.3 miles to finish
10 . Rapha?l Dinelli (Fondation Oc?an Vital) at 6603.4 miles to finish
11 . Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport - Kapsch) at 6276.2 miles to finish
RDG . Vincent Riou (PRB). 3rd equal. 30 boats started.
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