Corentin Douguet on E Leclerc-Bouygues Telecom has regained the lead in the Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia.
Douguet spent yesterday closing the gap on Yves Blevec on Point Marriage with just five miles separating the two late in the afternoon. Heading further out to the west Douguet managed to pick up a slightly better breeze which allowed him to slip through into pole position. He now leads Le Blevec by six miles.
However, the unpredictable Doldrums are starting to take effect with the top of the fleet beginning to concertina as it heads towards the Equator. Alex Pella on Open Sea/Team Work, and Isabelle Joschke on Degremont have retained their positions in third and fourth respectively just 34 miles from the leading duo.
British sailor Phil Sharp is proving his worth once again having gained another three places during the last 24 hours. Sharp on his two-year-old Magnen design Le Gallias has to be one of the fastest competitors in the fleet. Having lost many places by heading west on the first day of the second leg from Lanzarote and ending up in 58th place, Sharp, who finished Leg 1 in fourth overall, has spent 10 days climbing his way back up the fleet and is now in sixth place, just 75 miles off the leading boat, and five miles from Adrien Hardy on Brossard.
Fellow British sailor Nick Bubb, who's also spent the last 10 days recovering from a disastrous position down in the 60s, is now beginning to make progress and, by taking five places overnight, is now in 25th position.
Peter Laureyssens on Wellments is holding on to his Series lead in a consistent 14th position.
Positions (top 10 at 0900 this morning)
1 433 Douguet Corentin E. LECLERC / BOUYGUES TELECOM PROTO 1193.20 miles from finish
2 151 Le Blevec Yves POINT MARIAGE PROTO 1199.40 miles from finish
3 429 Pella Alex OPEN SEA / TEAM WORK. PROTO 1224.10 miles from finish
4 276 Joschke Isabelle DEGREMONT PROTO 1227.30 miles from finish
5 198 Hardy Adrien BROSSARD PROTO 1262.50 miles from finish
6 419 Sharp Philip LE GALLAIS PROTO 1267.10 miles from finish
7 427 Gladu Sébastien ARMOR LUX PROTO 1270.40 miles from finish
8 391 Noblet Yvan APPART CITY PROTO 1274.10 miles from finish
9 424 De Lamotte Tanguy SET ENVIRONNEMENT POUR MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE PROTO 1277.80 miles from finish
10 417 Maslard Stanislas CREDIT AGRICOLE SKIPPER CHALLENGE PROTO 1280.30 miles from finish
Sue Pelling/Yachting World, 20 October 2005
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