Atlantic Alone- Soldini Adds onto Lead

	The 5 boat fleet has continued progress across 
the Atlantic. With the current pace, Fila should finish 
by Sunday with all boats expected in Charleston by a 
week from Saturday, August 1st.
	Since last Wednesday the fleet has experienced an overall
uptick in wind.  Still, up until the weekend was spend in 
frustrating light air conditions.  On Saturday 
J.P. Mouligne e-mailed the following from Cray Valley: 
"Not much I can do except keep Cray Valley 
moving at all time and hope for the wind to come back."  
	However, by Monday, Mike Golding and Group 4's 
situtation was looking up:  At last! a day with some wind, 
flat seas, blue skies, with trade wind cloud formations and 
a gentle 12kts of breeze from the NE. 
	Although the weather has changed, the order of the 
fleet hasn't.  Fila and Giovanni Soldini still lead.  As of 
Wednesday morning he was 676 miles from Charleston.  
At this point he says, "I'm sailing with the big,  light genoa 
and can even top nine knots despite the lack of wind."  ETA
for Fila is Sunday morning.  His Class I rival Group 4 has not 
kept up to his record setting pace.  Golding has suffered a 
blown spinnaker, and broken cooking stove and is 1455 miles 
from the finish with an ETA of midday July 31.
	Class II is still lead by Cray Valley.  She is 1546 miles out.  
ETA is midday July 31.  2nd in Class II is Magellan Alpha 
and Mike Garside. At one point, Magellan Alpaha looked like 
it was all hooked up to pass by Cray Valley.  As he caught up 
Garside chose to hold his westerly heading rather than flopping 
going south.  It backfired and he later e-mailed:  "Well, this 
morning found me rapidly running out of air." Magellan is 
1705 miles from the finish, with an eta of 1 August.  Finally 
Shuten-dohji IIwith skipper  Saito is still by far the most northern 
boat in the fleet, with a distance to finish of  1801 miles.