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10:53 AM Fri 6 Feb 2009 GMT
In 2005 the winning margin was 6 hours. In 2009 Michel Desjoyeaux's incredible winning margin will be closer to six days.
Breton Armel Le Cl?ac'h looks to be set to finish his first Vend?e Globe in second place with less than 260 miles to complete this morning, heading directly at the Les Sables d'Olonne finish line. In 25-30 knots of NNW'ly winds he is making between 12 and 14 knots this morning on Brit Air and should be due to cross the finish line before breakfast Saturday morning. Le Cl?ac'h had a good penultimate night at sea and covered 115 miles between 1900hrs GMT and this morning's 0400hrs ranking.
In his wake, 550 miles to the SWW of the Azores the chess match between Safran and Roxy remains as engaging as ever has been, as Marc Guillemot rounds the NW corner of the anticyclone and has not yet really picked up any significant speed advantage over Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy). Indeed Davies' lead this morning is still 282 miles. The British skipper, sailing upwind in around 10 knots of NE'ly breeze put in a second tack at around midnight last night to return to a more northerly course. The pair are squared up 450 miles apart across the NW-SE axis of the high pressure and there is little to choose between their positions, although Guillemot is sailing downwind now and has a slight speed advantage over Davies, which should start to increase today.
Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) is now a very respectable 143.7 miles behind Guillemot in terms of distance to finish, a figure exaggerated in reality by the roundabout route the French skipper is taking and so he is well to the west of the theoretical optimum course. As the high tracks SE so Thompson should be able to save a few miles. He is continually having to throttle back in the bouncy seas, in upwind conditions on Bahrain Team Pindar to preserve his damaged keel rams for when he is in flatter more and at more suitable wind angles. Thompson is quietly frustrated by ceding miles to the chasing Dee Caffari, GBR, (Aviva) due to his inability to sail at anything close to 100%, but is confident he can apply more keel and open the gap again as soon as he his not upwind in such short, slamming, violent seas.
Dee Caffari has been quick this morning, fastest in the fleet making 12.8 knots, nearly two knots faster than Thompson.
Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) is off Cabo Branco on the NE corner of Brasil, lining up for his Doldrums crossing, 200 miles due south of Fernando de Noronha making a steady 10-11 knots, 420 miles to the Equator.
Rich Wilson, too, is having a third steady day so far, on Great American III, expressing his concern for Raphael Dinelli, (Fondation Oc?an Vital) who, the American skipper considered, is dicing with a nasty low pressure:
'None of us need any more storms: we did that in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans' Wilson noted last night.
Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) is 120 miles to the SW of the Falklands after his slow time yesterday, but making over nine knots in the right direction.
04:00 HRS GMT. Rankings
1 . Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) finished after 84 days 3 hours, 9 minutes
2 . Armel Le Cl?ac'h (Brit Air) at 286.2 miles to finish
3 . Sam Davies (Roxy) at 1729 miles to finish
4 . Marc Guillemot (Safran) at 2011.1 miles to finish
5 . Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) 2155 miles to finish
6 . Dee Caffari (Aviva) at 2316 miles to finish
7 . Arnaud Boissi?res (Akena V?randas) at 2829.5 miles to finish
8 . Steve White (Toe in the Water) 3664 miles to finish
9 . Rich Wilson (Great American III) at 5066 miles to finish
10 . Rapha?l Dinelli (Fondation Oc?an Vital) at 6342 miles to finish
11 . Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport - Kapsch) at 6789 miles to finish
RDG . Vincent Riou (PRB). 3rd equal. 30 boats started.
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Foiling - Wind Wings
