Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

Thomas Ruyant, the leader in the Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50, is now less than 500 miles from the finish, in an area with 15 knots of breeze. The French skipper has managed an average of 12 knots; 25 knots over the last 12 hours and 10.97 knots in the whole day. Forecasts are predicting winds shifting northeast, which should stay at the same intensity for the next two days to come. This means that there won’t be many tactics open to the sailors and ruling out any exceptional circumstances, Frenchman Thomas Ruyant, who is currently 67 miles in front of Henri Paul Shipman should go on to win the race.

The Spaniards catch some good wind

The Mini GAES Solidaria team members continue to sail close together. Unfortunately, they are doing so in an area of low breeze (less than 10 knots), which means they may drop back further from race leader Ruyant. This morning the distance between Juan Carlos Sanchís and the Frenchman was 340 miles, with the Spaniard in 17th place having dropped a position. Juan Carlos, the best placed of the Spaniards in the Prototypes Division managed average speeds of 7.44 knots over the last 24 hours. That’s almost five less than Ruyant.

The other three Spaniards in Protos; Anna Corbella (18th), Toni Weijl (19th) and Gerard Marin (21st) have also moved back a place in the rankings, with Toni Weijl moving 30 miles away from the rest of the Spaniards thanks to lower average speeds (6,45 knots in the last 24 hours). Thankfully, it looks like they are heading into an area with 15 knots and they can start to really get the most out of these boats.

Similar panorama in the Series Division

For the two Series Division Mini GAES Solidaria team members, the outlook is much the same. Two rivals have overtaken both Hugo Ramón and Joel Miró. Hugo dropped down to eleventh place and Joel to 30th.

The big difference here is the distance between Hugo Ramón, the best-placed Spaniard in the category and leader Charlie Dalin, who is just 95 miles away. Just like his teammates, Ramón will be entering an area of higher breeze around midday today.

Rankings 05:00 GMT:
Prototypes Division:                                                     

1.    Ruyant, Thomas / Faber France (FRA), 477.87 miles from finish.
2.    Schipman, Henri Paul / Maison de l’Avenir Urbatys (FRA), 61.46 miles from leader.
3.    Delesne, Bertrand / Entreprendre Durablement (FRA) 81.04 miles from leader.  
....
17.  Sanchis, Juan Carlos / Somni – Gaes Solidaria 403 (ESP), 348.1 5 miles from leader.
18.  Corbella, Anna / Gaes Solidaria 385 (ESP), 348.3 miles from leader.
19.  Weijl, Toni / Gaes Solidaria 684 (ESP), 351.84 miles from leader.
….
21. Marin, Gerard / Gaes Solidaria 727 (ESP), 388.5 miles from leader.
32 entries.

Series Division:

1.    Dalin, Charlie / Cherche Sponsor- charliedalin.com (FRA), 738.76 miles from finish.
2.    Lobato, Francisco / Roff Tmn (POR), 10.64 miles from leader.
3.   Apolloni, Ricardo / MaVie pour Mapei (ITA), 38.65 miles from leader
....
11. Ramon, Hugo / Nassau – Gaes Solidaria 450 (ESP), a 94,87 millas del líder.
…
30. Miró, Joel / Gaes Solidaria 677 (ESP), 260.57 miles from leader.
47 entries.