Jonathan McKee, the American sailor who has been leading the second leg of the Mini Transat for the last few days, has reported problems on board and is currently heading to Natal, the eastern most part of Brazil. Although is still unclear why McKee activated his Inmarsat D (the green alarm which means he has problems but is not asking for assistance) twice, indications show he has mechanical problems and could have dismasted.

Interestingly another competitor, Sebastien Roubinet (346 – Adrenaline) also encountered problems, and activated his Inmarsat D in an almost identical position yesterday. He is making just 1kt also heading towards Brazil and the race organisers believe he has also broken his mast.

Meanwhile, Sam Manuard, winner of the first leg of the race from La Rochelle to Lanzarote, has taken over McKee’s lead with Armel Tripon in second. David Raison (440- Rayon Liquide) continues to strengthen his lead on the Prototype fleet with Manuel Castilla (167 – Vision Originale) 45 miles behind and David Sineau (428 – France Fermetures) 53 miles astern.

British sailor Ian Munslow (326 – Ishtar) is looking good in 18th place while teammate James Bird (Atomic) is lying 50th.

Positions (12 octobre 15:00 TU)

1 431 Samuel Manuard TIP TOP TOO – LE GRAU DU ROI PORT CAMARGUE proto S032201 W0322448 0696.4 miles to the finish

2 151 Armel Tripon MOULIN ROTY proto S025955 W0314878 0728.0 miles to the finish

3 247 Jonathan Mc Kee TEAM MC LUBE proto S023951 W0322091 0738.7 miles to the finish

4 347 Pierre Rolland EXTRADO proto S021945 W0322275 0758.8 miles to the finish

5 240 Alex Pella AQUATEC – SANTIVERI – TEXKNIT proto S015293 W0313106 0795.4 miles to the finish

6 346 Sébastien Roubinet ADRENALINE proto S011555 W0304215 0851.5 miles to the finish

7 260 Richard Mérigeaux BON PIED BON OEIL proto S011526 W0301560 0867.2 miles to the finish

8 354 Bruno Garcia SALADINO proto S003958 W0301271 0897.7 miles to the finish

9 353 Willy Garcia CEYLAN DIAMANTES proto S003871 W0301198 0898.8 miles to the finish

10 312 Pascal Doin ASNQ proto S003671 W0295838 0908.3 miles to the finish

11 303 Enrico Podesta DIABOLO-SLAM proto S001801 W0295613 0924.8 miles to the finish

12 139 François Cuinet REGLISSE proto N001231 W0303528 0932.5 miles to the finish

13 385 Jaume Mumbru PORT DE BARCELONA proto N000560 W0301400 0935.8 miles to the finish

14 167 Manuel Castilla VISION ORIGINALE serie N001976 W0300993 0950.2 miles to the finish

15 440 David Raison RAYON LIQUIDE serie N004863 W0312371 0952.7 miles to the finish

16 393 Cian Mc Carthy THE TOM CREAN proto N005556 W0315028 0955.4 miles to the finish

17 428 David Sineau FRANCE FERMETURES serie N003821 W0301230 0965.6 miles to the finish

18 326 Ian Munslow ISHTAR proto N003653 W0295925 0970.0 miles to the finish

19 318 Yann Riou THRANE & THRANE serie N002876 W0293246 0976.9 miles to the finish

20 330 Jean-Pierre Balmes CECIM serie N004766 W0295243 0983.0 miles to the finish