Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

At 10:00 GMT the positions of the four entries that had been sailing in ‘invisible’ mode were revealed; W Hotels, Veolia Environnement, Aviva and Akena Verandas. The rankings had turned against the Spanish team. On board W Hotels, Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes has lost their grip on the fifth place position that had taken them so much to gain and consolidate, with Veolia Environnement 5.6 miles ahead of them, just a couple of hours from the finish. In this short interval, however, W Hotels gained back the lost ground to overtake the French entry, 4’ 17’’ ahead of their rivals on the finish line. After 4,700 miles of racing, the final few miles proved to be an authentic heart-stopper, the best kind of sporting climax for an ocean race such as this.

Alex and Pepe have played a fantastic role in this Transat Jacques Vabre. They have shown themselves to belong among the elite of the IMOCA class, and more importantly, they have got better and better within the regatta, topping the speeds of some of the best boats around and demonstrating an all-roundness as sailors that can only stand them in good stead for the Barcelona World Race. This is a race in which the sailors have had to suffer the toughest conditions and have had to take risky tactical decisions.

Congratulations.

The thrill of a tight finish will be re-lived as Pachi Rivero and Yves Parlier’s 1876 comes in. Their exit from the invisible shield has revealed a great recovery on Akena Verandas: over 100 miles in 24 hours, with Arnaud Boissières and Vincent Riou’s entry just 16 miles from their bow at 13:00 GMT. The possibility of passing Akena Verandas is limited, with just 8 miles separating the French entry from Puerto Limon. 1876 is estimated to finish late this afternoon.