Major gains made on the race leader
At 1916 GMT on Monday, the eighth boat in La Solidaire du Chocolat fleet entered the Caribbean through the race gate of St. Barts as Class40 Association President, Jacques Fournier, and his co-skipper, Jean-Edouard Criquioche, the Class40 Treasurer, took Groupe Picoty out of the North Atlantic.
Ahead of Fournier and Criquioche by 180 miles, a close-quarters battle is underway south of Puerto Rico with Peter Harding and Miranda Merron moving up to 6th on 40 Degrees with under a mile separating the British duo from the Chilean team of Felipe Cubillos and Daniel Bravo Silva on Desafio Cabo de Hornos in 7th as both boats remain stuck in light airs making under five knots. Further west, south of the Dominican Republic, Tim Wright and Nicko Brennan have locked into a band of stronger, north-easterly breeze on Sail4Cancer in 5th and are currently delivering the highest speed in the fleet at 13.5 knots, increasing their lead over 40 Degrees and Desafio Cabo de Hornos by 50 miles in the past 24 hours to 158 miles at 0800 GMT this morning as the easterly pair of Class40s remain trapped in light breeze. In 4th place, Damien Seguin and Armel Tripon on Cargill-MTTM were the first to catch the stronger breeze last night and although the French duo’s speed has dropped from 14.5 knots to 12.2 knots in the latest poll as they leave the band of breeze, the high speeds throughout the night have increased Seguin and Tripon’s lead over Sail4Cancer by 62 miles in 24 hours and Cargill-MTTM currently holds a 135 mile lead over Wright and Brennan.
At 2000 GMT last night, the race leaders, Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia entered the 100 mile wide Jamaica Channel between Jamaica and Haiti while Giovanni Soldini and Pietro d’Ali on Telecom Italia and Bruno Jourdren and Bernard Stamm on Cheminées Poujoulat enjoyed the same conditions as Cargill-MTTM and the chasing duo have closed the lead held by Initiatives-Novedia significantly in the past 24 hours taking just over 60 miles from the Lamotte and Hardy. At 0880 GMT today, Telecom Italia has moved up to 2nd place taking the western side of the Jamaica Channel while Jourdren and Stamm have taken the Haiti side, trailing the Italians by under three miles. Although Soldini and d’Ali are 50 miles behind Initiatives-Novedia in the latest poll, Lamotte and Hardy have found new breeze north of the channel and have picked up the pace and may win back some distance throughout today.
In the North Atlantic, Axa Atout Coeur Pour Aides with Erik Nigon and Marc Jouany in 8th place will be the next Class40 the pass through the St. Barts gate with the French duo moving up to 9th place on Monday afternoon as they head down towards the island, overtaking Denis Lazat and Frédéric Nouel on PLAN further south and currently holding a 61 mile lead over their French rivals. The following pack are lead by Stephen Card and Shaun Murphy on ORBIS, trailing PLAN by 87 miles, and followed by three boats - David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud’s Adriatech in 12th; Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource in 13th and Crédit Maritime of Patrice Carpentier and Victor Maldonado in 14th – separated by just 28 miles, with the fleet’s backmarker, Vale Inco Nouvelle Calédonie of Yves Eclaret and Lionel Regnier a further 183 miles behind Carpentier and Maldonado.
Stephen Card and Shaun Murphy are racing in La Solidaire du Chocolat to raise money for Orbis - The Flying Sight hospital. Rule 26 provided all the graphics onthe boat, as well as team clothing, and support the team in thier goal to reach Mexico.
To donate to Orbis via Steve and Shaun's justgiving page - please click here.
