Today's Sailing News 

The fleet of 60 foot trimarans leading the fleet are now on the down side of  of a sailing contrast.  Light westerly winds are slowly pushing the fleet down the Irish coast.

In the 24 hours before, the winds were hardly light.  They were so stout that they almost pushed Bayer En France to a new 24 hour distance record.  Bayer sailed 625.34 miles, exceptionally close to Club Med's 24 hour record of 625.7 miles.  Groupama at 615.8 and Foncia at 601.4 also sailed over 600 miles in 24 hours.

Comments on these high speeds: Alain Gautier skipper of Foncia: "Since I've had the boat we've never had such perfect conditions during 24 hours to do a day's racing. Here, we are moving with the front in excellent conditions and a fairly flat sea."  Frank Cammas Groupamma skipper: "It¹s pretty uncomfortable but we know the boat's limits and we've been giving it everything but we are not in any danger. We've never had such perfect conditions for trying top speeds over 24 hours."

Those high speeds disappeared as the fleet rounded Fastnet Rock.  1st place Biscuits La Trinitaine rounded 4 hours ahead of Groupama.  Currently 'Biscuits' has 217 miles to the finish, with Groupama 50 miles back.  Groupama is closely followed by Bayer en France 10 more miles back, and Foncia only 3 miles more back.  

The lead trimarans are making speeds of 10.4 ('Biscuits) to 12.3 (Foncia).  Courses range from 101° (Foncia) to 119°('Biscuits').

Leader Biscuits La Trinitaine is expected to finish early Wednesday morning in St. Malo France.