Gildas Morvan 56 miles from the finish in Cherbourg…

The 47 skippers racing in La Solitaire passed the Brittany headland last night, some better position than others. Gildas Morvan continues to lead this morning, Guernsey and heading for the Cotentin headland, before the final run to the finish.

Gildas holds a 10.4-mile advantage over Gildas Mahé (Le Comptoir Immobilier) on the 11:00 position report and with the 10 to 15 knots of Westerly breeze; the fleet averages just over 8 knots sailing under spinnaker. The first are expected to finish any time fro 18:00 to 20:00 local French time.

Behind Cercle Vert, a group of 15 boats or so managed to round the headland and not suffer the full effects of the turning tide last night, by working on the approach and rounding Ushant on the outside. Gérald Veniard (Macif) on the other hand suffers the most, opting for a course close to shore, he sees the miles to the leader grow overnight as he is left fighting against the strong current to only find himself this morning relegated to 24th place and more than 23 miles behind the leader.

The end is in sight, for the skipper of Cercle Vert, who has led the race over the past two days. The fleet should benefit from favourable wind conditions but contend with the turning tide that is going to turn at 14:00. Two hours later and up to 19:00, there will be 3 to 5 knots of current in the rad Blanchard.

The shortest and most direct course to the finish takes the boats between the Island of Aurigny and La Hague Cape on the Contentin Headland.