Kiwi 'non racer' climbing thru MiniSat fleet

by Kate Jennings & the Sail-World Team on 6 Oct 2003 The frontrunners in the Mini fleet are practically midway in this second leg. They are 1500 miles from Salvador de Bahia with everything to play for in both the Proto and the Series fleet. Non entrant Chris Sayer, who started aboard his 'Wild Card' eight hours after the fleet continues to climb through the ranks. Now unofficially 15th, the gritty Kiwi is again showing the race organisers that his non entrant will be a continuing embarrassment.

The weather will continue to have a major affect on the race. This has been confirmed by the slowing of Jonathan Mc Kee (247- Team Mc Lube)
and the comeback by all his pursuers, beginning with Armel Tripon (151 – Moulin
Roty), now 4 miles behind the American, Pierre Roland (347- Extrado), 34 miles
away in third and above all, Alex Pella (240 – Aquatec Santiveri Texknit), who
continues his game of catch-up.

The Spaniard was positioned seventh this Sunday morning, 67 miles from Mc Kee.

He has reeled back 25 miles on the leaders during the night, putting 16 miles
between himself and Richard Mérigeaux (260-Bon Pied Bon Oeil) who had been the
same distance away from the leader at nightfall yesterday.

Samuel Manuard (431 – Tip Top Too – Le Grau du Roi-Port Camargue) is battling
to hang on to his 2-hour advantage gained in Puerto Calero at the end of the
first leg. « Sam » is 4th and has come back to within 58 miles of McKee, after
previously dropping back 102 miles on the leader.

In the Series fleet, David Raison (440- Rayon Liquide) has retaken control from
the dazzling Brieuc Maisoneuve (250 – Pays Granvillais) who is getting as much
pace out of his Pogo 1 as those on the latest generation Pogo 2’s. In so doing,
he has gained a 5-mile lead on Michel Mirabel (421 – Gwalarn IV).

Another
noteworthy performance has been the lightning comeback of Jean-Pierre Balmes
(330- Cecim), who has managed to pull off his usual stunt of leapfrogging up
the rankings. After moving up from 8th to 4th place in Puerto Calero in a few
hours, he was up to 6th this morning, 30 miles from Raison.

In contrast, Saturday night’s leader, Erwan Tymen (426 – Pogo 2 Navy Lest), has
slipped back into 7th place. He is doubtless trying to pull off his own stunt
to the east to cross the doldrums as they take shape before the competitors.

With the northerly wind he is on a port tack while his rivals are on a
starboard tack. Pella is out to the far west as Tymen mirrors him out to the
east. It is impossible to say which option will pay off at this stage in such
capricious conditions.

Towards the rear of the fleet the port of Mindello in Sao Vicente is emptying.

Stéphane Ayrault (135 – Wyeth) and Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Artech- Caen La Mer)
have set sail again. According to « Saudade », one of the support vessels,
Arthur Barret (29 – Ubaye), Alessandro Zamagna (342 – Arke) and Juan Carlos
Sanchis Mari (371 – Alfin) should be following suit as the day goes on.

Jean-Pierre Balmes (330 – Cecim) takes up position again in 24th. Of the
British contingent, Irishman, Cian McCarthy (393 - The Tom Crean) is making
great progress in 11th postion overall, flanked by Brits, Ian Munslow (326 –
Ishtar) in 15th and James Bird (56 – Atomic) in 46th.

Positions 5 October 0700 (UT)
Pos Voile Skipper Bateau Type Lat Long Dist. à l'arrivée

1 247 Jonathan Mc Kee TEAM MC LUBE proto N094096 W0263390
1549.8

2 151 Armel Tripon MOULIN ROTY proto N093741 W0261576
1553.8

3 347 Pierre Rolland EXTRADO proto N103688 W0272463 1583.9

4 431 Samuel Manuard TIP TOP TOO - LE GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE
proto N102561 W0255095 1607.8

5 353 Willy Garcia CEYLAN DIAMANTES proto N104218 W0261626
1612.9

6 354 Bruno Garcia SALADINO proto N104328 W0261261
1615.4

7 240 Alex Pella AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT proto N111585
W0274053 1616.1

8 139 François Cuinet REGLISSE proto N102191 W0251885
1618.2

9 346 Sébastien Roubinet ADRENALINE proto N103480 W0253376
1623.3

10 260 Richard Mérigeaux BON PIED BON OEIL proto N104611
W0253651 1632.4

11 393 Cian Mc Carthy THE TOM CREAN proto N105583 W0255656
1633.1

12 312 Pascal Doin ASNQ proto N110983 W0261888 1637.5

13 385 Jaume Mumbru PORT DE BARCELONA proto N105063 W0251425
1645.9

14 440 David Raison RAYON LIQUIDE serie N105930 W0252781
1648.0

15 326 Ian Munslow ISHTAR proto N111801 W0255636 1653.6

16 250 Brieuc Maisoneuve PAYS GRANVILLAIS serie N104826
W0243621 1660.8

17 421 Michel Mirabel GWALARN IV serie N110415 W0245808
1665.1

18 227 Donald Wright RUSSE NOIR proto N113195 W0255303
1667.7

19 258 Marc Gascons TIP-TOP proto N113020 W0253811 1671.9

20 428 David Sineau FRANCE FERMETURES serie N114411 W0261053
1672.3

21 138 Eric Defert AMIRAL DE BRETAGNE proto N113686 W0254511
1675.2

22 303 Enrico Podesta DIABOLO-SLAM proto N115156 W0262115
1675.5

23 167 Manuel Castilla VISION ORIGINALE serie N115271 W0261611
1678.3

24 330 Jean-Pierre Balmes CECIM serie N112686 W0251473
1678.4

25 426 Erwan Tymen POGO 2 NAVY LEST serie N113233 W0251890
1681.6

26 282 Erwan Abalain MARION NOEL CONSEILS serie N114618 W0253735
1686.8

27 269 Lionel Rubio de Teran GROUPE CIBF serie N115895 W0260363
1688.6

28 168 Fabrice Guillerm RAULT LE SERVICE ALIMENTAIRE serie
N120231 W0260656 1690.7

29 318 Yann Riou THRANE & THRANE serie N120503 W0260896
1692.4

30 322 Gilles Guillerm BLUE BOSSA serie N121898 W0263840
1695.3

31 245 Patrick Bot FINIST'MER ECOLE NAVALE serie N122600 W0263906
1701.7

32 352 Luis Irisarri DEVIAJE.COM proto N120793 W0254446
1704.1

33 36 Peter de Smedt HUYSMAN proto N115765 W0243365 1723.6

34 209 Bertrand Lecharpentier NEC
HONFLEUR serie N120636 W0244053
1728.5

35 316 Pia L'Obry EXPATRIA.FR proto N123561 W0253706
1732.4

36 175 Adam Seamans SPIRIT OF AMERICA serie N123820 W0253203
1736.7

37 416 Daniel Schaffer SENSIL proto N120443 W0241278 1738.9

38 381 Gonzalo Botin DON VITO serie N120260 W0240351
1741.5

39 185 Thomas Valentin THOMAS HAWK proto N125323 W0255613
1741.8

40 345 Cécile Poujol INFORMATIQUE ET STATISTIQUES serie N130643
W0260033 1752.7

41 295 David Sautret MIKALOU SAILING serie N123398 W0244070
1753.3

42 444 Isabelle Magois EDEN PARK proto N132913 W0261833
1767.9

43 373 Christophe Dary SAGA MERCEDES BENZ serie N131101 W0251318
1774.1

44 262 Eric Schmitt LA LIMULE serie N134666 W0254195
1796.6

45 388 Yves Niort DEMI-CLE SHIPCHANDLER serie N134550 W0252885
1800.2

46 56 James Bird ATOMIC proto N133315 W0240363 1822.2

47 333 Arsène Ledertheil LA CIGOGNE DE L'OCEAN proto N142218
W0254878 1827.6

48 277 François-Jacques Jauffrineau VENDEE PRISMA proto N135911
W0244445 1829.3

49 329 Laurent Jaunin TERRE-ET-FAUNE.ORG serie N141416 W0251376
1832.2

50 34 Gustavo Pacheco EPSILON proto N143178 W0252180 1845.7