Three Imoca boats home in Transat Jacques Vabre

by Rivacom on 21 Nov 2007 Foncia crossed the arrival line today (Tuesday) at 16h 37'05 French time – 12h 37'05 local time - under an impecable blue sky.

The run for the first place in the Imoca was as hot as the Brazilian temperature as Marc Guillemot & Charles Caudrelier pushed Safran and therefore Foncia to their limits till the finish. Safran took second place at 13h 31' 55' local time (17h 31 '55' French time). Cheminées Poujoulat arrived 45 minutes and 30 seconds behind Safran. VM Matériaux is expected in Bahia end of the afternoon and Ecover around 10 p.m (french time).

The 28 Class 40 are all dealing with the doldrums whims. Crèpes Whaou ! crossed the line at 11h 29'39' French time after 15d 22h 27' at sea.

Since yesterday Safran and Cheminées Poujoulat had moved her route towards the Brazilian coasts to reduce their deficit of miles on Foncia. That worked pretty well as at 12:00 (French time) Marc Guillemot was polled only nine miles behind Foncia's stern after 17 days at sea.

On a regatta mode, Michel Desjoyaux, seeking to keep the control, positionned his boat between his pursuers and the arrival line. He lost miles in the process but also reduced the chance of Safran to ovetake him and crossed the line first. Cheminées Poujoulat took third place on the podium at 18h 17' 25' (French time) after 17d 4h and 17' at sea.

The 'compression' expected along the Brazilian coast did not happen, which means Ecover, or even Groupe Bel, could not close in on the frontrunners overnight. With a 70-mile deficit on VM Matériaux, and given the current wind conditions, Ecover cannot claim a shot at fourth place. Jean le Cam should cross the finish line before the end of the day, with Mike Golding's turn early tomorrow morning.

Brit'air has closed on Groupe Bel and is polled only 30 miles away at 4 p.m. while Generali and Gitana Eighty are sailing within 14 miles of the other.

Roxy, now 500 miles away from Bahia, is forecasted to finish within two days. For the time being the girls are sailing upwind in wet and shaky conditions while Maisonneuve is sailing back on them. The whole class 40 has now entered the doldrums, which seem to play differently depending on where the skippers entered them. Some have gales and rain like Telecom Italia which, at the front and center of the fleet, watched her lead over ATAO Audio system melt to 12 tiny miles overnight (after leading by 70 miles before the doldrums). But the boats are now showing speeds of up to eight knots, which seem to indicate they are experiencing steady winds. Out of the doldrums yet or just a bit of respite? Tomorrow will tell.. along with the outcome of the the light track east and west the skippers made before entering this critical zone.

MULTIHULLS Class

Crèpes Whaou! crossed the line at 7h 29' 39' local time (11h 29' 39' French time) after 15d 22h 27' at sea and a theoretical average speed of 11.35 knots. Laiterie de St Malo, which should logically rank second in the Transat Jacques Vabre Class 50, was polled at more than 500 miles from the finish when Crèpes Whaou crossed it. Croisières Anne Caseneuve is sailing 900 miles from Bahia, DZ Energie.com is 1,800 miles from the end.

Michel Desjoyeaux - Foncia
'The victory was locked up in the doldrums when Ecover 3 lost her lead. Before that she just blew everyone away.'

Michel Desjoyaux compared Mike Golding to a fighter pilot.

'When you are two sailors onboard you do not hesitate to gybe and gybe again to follow the wind shifts that's how we went back on Cheminées Poujoulat. When you are solo it is definitely a different matter.

'No major problems onboard but a broken batten and the engine that refused to start after the finish line!'

When they crossed the line Manu Le Borgne turned to Michel Desjoyaux and asked: 'Is that finished, have we won?' and Michel answered, 'Yes we did.'

Imoca Class Results:

After 17 days hours 37 minutes and 5 seconds of racing at a theoretical average speed of 10.6 knots, Michel Desjoyeaux et Emmanuel Le Borgne on their Imoca Foncia, crossed the finish line in the Transat Jacques Vabre at 16h 37'05' (CET) or in other words 12h 37'05' (local time) Tuesday, 20th of November.

Second place to Safran. After 17 days 3 hours and 55 seconds in Atlantic ocean, Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier crossed the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre. They arrived at 17h 31'55' (french time), 54 minutes and 55 seconds after Foncia. Their average speed is 10.55 knots. Safran is second in the Imoca class.

Third place for Cheminées Poujoulat. After 17 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes and 25 seconds at the average speed of 10.53 knots, Bernard Stamm and Tanguy Cariou crossed the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre at 18h 17' 25' (French time). They arrived only 1 hour 40 minutes ans 20 seconds after Foncia.

http://www.jacques-vabre.com