Jouni Rompannen (skipper Tieto): “Everything is going fine and we now have enough fuel. The  crew of the boat giving us the fuel was very competent and very helpful. We haven’t managed to do anything with the keel, but the situation is stable, no further cracks. We have two or three days to go.”

Felipe Cubillos (skipper Desafio Cabo de Hornos): “We are very happy with the speed and I think in two more days we will have good news. If the weather information is correct, the wind should be from the east for two days and we are in a very good position in the north as we are making the mark and I think the other boats will have to gybe. Last night we had some breeze from the south, so we had to drop the spinnaker for some hours, but everything is OK with Daniel, with me and with the boat. We have a few electrical issues, but they’re very minor problems. There’s no need to stop in St. Barts, we have enough fuel and water…we are really in paradise!”

After just under 19 days at sea, Tanguy de Lamotte and Adrien Hardy on Initiatives-Novedia in first place crossed the St. Barts gate at 0923 GMT

Weather forecast
over race area of Solidaire Chocolat 2009

General synopsis by November 6, 2009 at 00h
High 1032 hPa 38N31W, moving slowly northeast, expected 1033 hPa 40N22W by 08/00UTC. 
High 1028 hPa 38N87W moving east, expected 1025 hPa 35N70W by 08/00UTC. 
Low 1006 hPa 39N64W moving northeast and deepening.
Tropical Depression IDA 1004 hPa over Nicaragua at 14.1N 84.0W by 06/06UTC moving northwest. Expected over land during next 24h then again at sea, 16.6N 84.5W by 07/12UTC.

Weather forecast from November 6, 2009 at 9UTC to November 8, 2009 at 00UTC
Northwest of ALIZES OUEST  
East 8/12 veering Southeast 10/15kt soon then decreasing 6/11 kt by 07/18 UTC. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls.
 
South of ALIZES OUEST  
East 12/17 kt. Sea moderate. Squalls. 
 
Northeast of EST ANTILLES (20N27N 50W55W) 
East 10/15 kt decreasing 7/11 kt from west soon. Sea moderate. 
 
Northwest of EST ANTILLES (20N25N 55W60W):
East 6/11 kts becoming Variable 1/5 kt in north by 06/15 UTC then becoming Northeast 3/7 kt from north by 07/09UTC then increasing 8/12 kt by 07/18UTC. Sea moderate. Showers and squalls. 
 
South of EST ANTILLES
East 10/15 kt. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls.
 
NORD ANTILLES  
East 10/15 kt decreasing 8/12 kt by 06/18UTC then increasing 10/15 kt by 07/12UTC. Sea moderate in Atlantic ocean, slight in Caribbean sea. Scattered squalls.
 
HISPANIOLA : 
East or Northeast 10/15 kt. Sea slight. Showers and squalls. 


Further outlook for next 24 hours
Strong wind warning (> 33 kt) : None


Tropical activity :
Tropical depression “IDA” now and for the next 24 hours over land (Nicaragua and Honduras).  Expected at sea tomorrow in gulf of Honduras, and increasing to Tropical storm level at this time.

on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 09? UTC

Arnaud Turck

Météo-France

Tim Wright (skipper Sail4Cancer): “We’re having a great time and this is a chance to dry everything out. The sun’s out, why wouldn’t you be happy? We’re trying to keep up on this side of the race course if we possibly can. The problem is if we go any deeper the boat slows down and looking at the weather ahead it looks very light. There’s probably going to be a gybe to get to St. Barts. The guys ahead of us seem to be pulling away from us, but that’s the way it goes and we just have to deal with the conditions. That’s such a shame about the Finnish team. Having been through the weather we’ve experienced, we take a careful look around the boat and there’s nothing wrong at the moment. We have an inspection hatch in the hull where we can peer down at the keel and at the moment everything looks like it is in the place it should be.”

Jouni Romppanen (skipper Tieto): “We’re both doing fine, but we are very, very disappointed and sad, sad. But this is how it goes sometimes. We don’t have any leaks around the keel, but we can see that the keel is moving because the bolts are going from side-to-side and it opens the crack every time the keel moves. So I think something is very badly wrong.”

Stephen Card (skipper ORBIS): “We’ve had a very pleasant night sailing and it’s a beautiful day this morning. We’ve got all the boots and clothes and oilies out in the cockpit trying to dry everything off. We’ve got about one metre or a metre-and-a-half gentle swell and 14 knots of breeze. The boat’s cruising along at eight knots. In fact, sun burn is the major concern at the moment. The problem at the moment is everyone is in the same breeze and doing about the same speed and this will probably continue until St. Barts. We’ve got a small list of jobs to do while the weather is quiet, nothing major at all. It’s a real shame about the Finnish team. If nothing else, our boat is very strong. We’re both fine although I fell across the cockpit and have a lovely bruise that I must take a picture of.”

Victor Maldonado (co-skipper Crédit Maritime): “Ahhh! Going south…finally. Even storks, whales and butterflies know that you need to head south! As the sun rises, so does our morale the morale and it has inspired me to write. Life has changed these last 24 hours on the boat and we have finally started to dry out.  One person on board has already started to complain about the heat, but I won’t mention his name….”

Weather forecast
over race area of Solidaire Chocolat 2009

General synopsis by November 5, 2009 at 00h
High 1030 hPa 39N33W, with litle move. Extending with a ridge to Bermuda, moving slowly southward : expected extending from Azores to northwest EST ANTILLES by 07/00UTC.
High 1026 hPa 40N68W, expected 1031 45N46W by 06/00UTC then merging with previous high.
High 1027 hPa 41N84W moving east, expected 1026 hPa 40N68W by 05/00UTC then 1032 hPa 46N47W by 06/00UTC. 
Low deepening over Bermuda tomorrow, then moving northeast and deepening.
Tropical storm IDA 995 hPa over Nicaraguan coats at 12.5N 83.1W by 05/03UTC moving northwest. Expected landing today over Nicaragua.

Weather forecast from November 5, 2009 at 9UTC to November 7, 2009 at 00UTC
Northeast of ALIZES OUEST  
East 8/12 kt increasing 10/15 kt by 06/03UTC. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls.
 
Northwest of ALIZES OUEST  
East 10/15 kt decreasing 8/12 kt by 05/15 UTC then veering Southeast by 06/06UTC, 7/12 kt in north and 10/15 kt in south. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls.
 
South of ALIZES OUEST  
East 10/15 kt in south. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls.
 
Northeast of EST ANTILLES (20N27N 50W55W) 
East 10/15 kt increasing 12/17 kt by 05/21 UTC then veering Southeast 8/12 kt from north by 06/03UTC. Sea moderate. Thundersqualls decreasing. 
 
Northwest of EST ANTILLES (20N25N 55W60W):
East 10/15 kt veering East or Southeast 6/11 kt from north by 06/06UTC then decreasing 1/5 kt in north by 06/15 UTC. Sea moderate. Showers and squalls. 
 
South of EST ANTILLES
East 11/16 kt decreasing 8/12 kt by 06/15UTC. Sea moderate. Scattered squalls. 
 
NORD ANTILLES  
East 13/17 kt decreasing 10/15 kt by le 04/21 UTC then 8/12 kt in west by 06/09UTC and backing Northeast in west by 06/18 UTC. Sea moderate in Atlantique ocean, slight in Caribbean sea. Scattered squalls.
 
East of HISPANIOLA : 
Northeast 10/15 kt veering East 8/12 kt soon then decreasing 8/13 kt by 05/21UTC and backing Northeast at the end. Sea slight. Showers and squalls. 


Further outlook for next 24 hours
Strong wind warning (> 33 kt) : None

Tropical activity :
Tropical Storm “IDA” over Nicaraguan coasts.

on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 09? UTC

Arnaud Turck

Météo-France

400 miles to St Bart’s, passage due on 6th November during daylight
1900 miles to Progreso , finish between 13th and 15th November.
1000 miles between first boat Novedia and the last boat Nouvelle Calédonie, equivalent to 4-5 days sailing

2 Groups of 8 boats
1^st group of 8 boats still with Initiative Novedia in the lead, more than 120 ahead of 2^nd Telecom Italia.
Close match between first 4 in this group, not quite 4 miles between Cheminée Poujoulat and Cargil MTTM. 
Will the Saint Bart’s gate do anything to change the rankings if and when boats put into port for repairs ? Answers in two days from now.
Gap of 300 miles, a little more than one day’s distance, between Novedia, the first boat in this group and Desafio Cabo de Hornos, the last in the group.

2^nd group of 8 boats led by Picoty
Picoty is 574 miles from Novedia. 
Coming together of the southerners and westerners : Axa Tout Cœur 11th at 700 miles from Novedia and 130 miles from Picoty.
The however, the gang of three has been able to sail in much more pleasant conditions and still be in the race.
500 miles between Picoty leading this 2^nd group and Nouvelle Calédonie following up the rear.

 Over the last 48 hours
Little change in ranking.
Average speed of between 8 and 10 knots, distances between boats remaining constant.
All boats in similar conditions and almost all steering a straight line course to Saint Bart’s.

Weather for the next 2 days
East/North East winds, light to moderate, 5 to 15 knots.

Weather for the Caribbean Sea (7 days)
East/North East winds, light to moderate, 5 to 15 knots.