Cammas, Van Liew Still Lead
Although Franck Cammas and his monstrous Groupama 3 continue to lead the Ultimate division in the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale, unsettled weather in the North Atlantic has allowed Thomas Coville’s Sodeb’O and Francis Joyon’s Idec II to make significant gains. Despite having reeled off a 490-mile day, Cammas’ lead against Sodeb’O — well north of G3 at this point — has shrunk some 86 miles over the last 24 hours to 260 miles, although Cammas has the rhumbline well defended. Joyon clawed back 60 miles to sit about 310 miles astern. Since Wednesday’s report, Sidney Gavignet has been successfully rescued from his seriously damaged Air Oman Majan. Roland ‘Bilou’ Jourdain is currently holding the lead in the IMOCA 60 class, but perhaps the biggest news is that Michel Desjoyeaux is . . . flushed! ‘Le Prof’, as he’s known, made a bold move south early in the race that doesn’t look like it’ll pay off anytime soon. Franck-Yves Escoffier is clinging to a narrow lead in the Multi50 division aboard Crêpes Whaou, while Thomas Ruyant aboard Destination Dunkerque is now the Class 40 leader as early frontrunner Bernard Stamm has suffered damage to his steering system aboard Cheminées Poujoulat. In the Rhum division, the lone American in the race, Etienne Giroire aboard ATNinc.com currently lies in seventh place, only 174 miles behind leader Pierre-Yves Chatelin’s Destination Calais.
On the opposite side of the Equator, Brad Van Liew’s Le Pingouin and Gutek Gutkowski’s Operon Racing are technically tied in the rankings for the first leg of the Velux 5 Oceans, with both sitting some 2,600 miles from the finish. However, Van Liew is about 200 miles farther south than the Polish skipper with the race tracker showing both headed for Cape Town. As long as Van Liew hasn’t overcooked his angles, he should pull ahead in the next 24 hours or so. Canadian Derek Hatfield is still in third, 440 miles back.