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Mise à jour 09:23
Plus de FigaroThe South Pays – Eliès Back in the Lead
01-08-2009
Yann Eliès took back the top spot last night (Friday), the strategy of the small group who took the southerly option having apparently paid off. But there is still 128 miles to go to the finish in Coruna, and with the breeze now veering into the north-west there’s no such thing as a sure-fire bet in this first leg of the race. The front runners are estimated to arrive from 2100 local time tonight.
Yesterday, as the fleet reached the middle of the Bay of Biscay, it was almost as if they were lining up for a restart, as the 52 skippers spread in their various groups across a long line, awaiting the arrival of the next weather front. And when it came, things turned wet and windy – an upwind slog with 20 knots from the south-west and pouring rain; robust conditions for this second night of the race.
Relief was soon forthcoming though, the wind having now veered into the north-west at much the same time as the fleet starts its descent towards Spain. The modest boat speeds of between 4 and 6 knots posted at the 0430 ranking this morning have started to rise as the fleet makes better progress towards Coruna and their expected arrival this evening.
So who will be first in? For the moment it’s looking good for the small minority who were grouped in the south, as long as they can pick up the new breeze at much the same time as their rivals further out to the west. Of these southerners, Yann Eliès (Generali) is followed at anything between one and four miles by Nicolas Lunven (CGPI), Laurent Pellecuer (Arnolfini.fr), Erwan Tabarly (Athema), Nicolas Bérenger (Koné Elevators), Eric Drouglazet (Luisina), Armel Tripon (Gedimat) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia). All is not lost for those who have followed the rhumb line however, and at this morning’s 0830 ranking Charles Caudrelier-Benac (Bostik), yesterday’s leader, has started to climb back up the top 10. Furthest out to the west are the likes of Gerald Veniard (Macif) and Britain’s Nigel King – they will have gambled on extending their distance to the finish in exchange for first crack at the new breeze, and their lateral separation from Elies in the south now extends to nearly 40 miles.
As the last 12 hours of the leg tick away all eyes will be on how these differing strategies play out, and there is always the possibility that all three tracks could converge on Coruna at much the same time! Looking at the fleet this morning, in a race where cumulated elapsed time is key, it looks like the time difference between a big chunk of the fleet will be negligible. No runaway winners on this leg!
Relief was soon forthcoming though, the wind having now veered into the north-west at much the same time as the fleet starts its descent towards Spain. The modest boat speeds of between 4 and 6 knots posted at the 0430 ranking this morning have started to rise as the fleet makes better progress towards Coruna and their expected arrival this evening.
So who will be first in? For the moment it’s looking good for the small minority who were grouped in the south, as long as they can pick up the new breeze at much the same time as their rivals further out to the west. Of these southerners, Yann Eliès (Generali) is followed at anything between one and four miles by Nicolas Lunven (CGPI), Laurent Pellecuer (Arnolfini.fr), Erwan Tabarly (Athema), Nicolas Bérenger (Koné Elevators), Eric Drouglazet (Luisina), Armel Tripon (Gedimat) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia). All is not lost for those who have followed the rhumb line however, and at this morning’s 0830 ranking Charles Caudrelier-Benac (Bostik), yesterday’s leader, has started to climb back up the top 10. Furthest out to the west are the likes of Gerald Veniard (Macif) and Britain’s Nigel King – they will have gambled on extending their distance to the finish in exchange for first crack at the new breeze, and their lateral separation from Elies in the south now extends to nearly 40 miles.
As the last 12 hours of the leg tick away all eyes will be on how these differing strategies play out, and there is always the possibility that all three tracks could converge on Coruna at much the same time! Looking at the fleet this morning, in a race where cumulated elapsed time is key, it looks like the time difference between a big chunk of the fleet will be negligible. No runaway winners on this leg!
