Having turned the corner round Cape Finisterre yesterday the Mini Transat fleet, which started from La Rochelle on Saturday, is now making rapid downwind progress down the Portugese coast in a good north-north-easterly breeze.
Corentin Douguet sailing his powerful, swing keel, water-ballasted Manuard design - E.LeClerc/Bouygues Telecom - still leads the fleet, but Sebastien Gladu on Amor Lux has closed the gap significantly overnight and is now less than a mile off Douguet's transom, further offshore. Douguet is continuing his average speed of 8 knots and between 0800 and 1500 yesterday covered more than 56 miles.
Most of the fleet has kept away from the coast of Portugal but Spanish sailor Alex Pella (third in the 2003 Mini Transat) who was heading the fleet on the first two days has made a poor decision by heading too far south and is now more than 60 miles behind the leader in 10th place. It will interesting to keep an eye on Pella's tactics over the next 24 hours to see if/how he gets himself back in to the hunt.
Twenty-four-year-old British sailor Phil Sharp sailing a two-year old Magnen design - Le Gallais - (previously owned by Nick Bubb) has stormed into third place overnight and with less than 20 miles from the front of the fleet Sharp will be looking to monopolise on his position as he tracks south, slightly further inshore from Douguet.
Fellow British sailor Nick Bubb on Whittlebury Hall, who led off the startline on Saturday but dropped down the fleet on the first night, has spent the last four days struggling to make progress through the middle of the pack. His decision to hunt out a better breeze slightly further away from the coast overnight has paid dividends and he's now in 17th place.
The 25kt breeze off the startline on Saturday and continuing generally breezy conditions over the last four days has, not surprisingly, led to several breakages including a dismasting on the first night. Irish sailor Cian McCarthy lost his mast 80 miles off the coast of La Rochelle and had to return to port, while four other skippers have pulled into La Coruna for repairs.
Sylvain Pontu has snatched the Series class lead with Peter Laureyssens now down to third and Mathieu Sannie is in second.
Sue Pelling/Yachting World, 21 September 2005
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Having turned the corner round Cape Finisterre yesterday the Mini Transat fleet, which started from La Rochelle on Saturday, is now making rapid downwind progress down the Portugese coast in a good north-north-easterly breeze. 
