Trophee BPE

After 21 days 9 hours 11 minutes and 23 second, at an average course speed of 6.68 knots, Nicolas Trousel on Financo has crossed the finish line of the Trophee BPE - Banque Privee Europeenne.

Running as far back as 18th place between April 1 and 5, he took an extreme southern route, sailing practically down to the latitude of Marie Galante before turning right on April 6. On April 2, nearly 1000 miles separated him from the sailors who chose the northernmost route. By April 9 he had moved from 16th place to 3rd. A very bold gamble that has paid off.

Top ten as of 1800 GMT Sunday 15 April (Trousel crossed 4 hours later):

1. Financo, Nicolas Troussel, 27 miles to finish

2. Defi Mousquetaires, Thomas Rouxel, 4.1 nm to leader

3. Bostik, Charles Caudrelier, 9.0

4. Sojasun, Liz Wardley, 95.9

5. A.ST Groupe, Marc Emig, 126.7

6. Lenze, Franck Le Gal, 167.4

7. Luisina, Eric Drouglazet, 174.3

8. Gedimat, Armel Tripon, 175.5

9. Banque Populaire, Jeanne Gregoire, 182.4

10. Les Mousquetaires, Bertrand de Broc, 182.9

Trophee BPE Transatlantic Race

The close race continues in the Beneteau Figaro one design class Trophee BPE transatlantic race. Already, the single-handed sailors have been racing their small Figaros constantly for more than two and a half weeks.

The match race continues between Thomas Rouxel and Charles Caudrelier, still only separated by 1.3 miles at the front of the fleet. However they still face a real threat to both their north and south. Overnight last year's Solitaire winner Nicolas Troussel has pulled up to third place and with the easterly trades wind airflow, of all the competitors is lining up to have the hottest angle into the finsh at Marie Galante. It also appears that at present he has more pressure - having averaged more than a knot faster than the leaders over the last four hours.

Among the most northern group Marc Emig has been making good progress too and this morning is 41.7 miles off the lead compared with 63 miles at the same time yesterday.

The forecast is still showing the wind to be getting lighter on the right side of the race course, so it will be interesting to see if Emig is still able to make gains over the next 24 hours.