Competitors in the Calais Round Britain Race set off under full main and spinnaker at 1430 hours yesterday. A 15-20 knot wind swept across the fleet with Bernard Stamm’s Bobst Group Armor Lux stealing into the lead. Ecover sliced into second followed by PRB, Objectif 3, Team 888, Sill, Arcelor Dunkerque, Garnier, and VMI; though this little line-up had been considerably shaken up by the time they reached the final coastal marker with over 15 minutes separating the boats after 15 miles of racing.

The fleet is currently gliding quickly under spinnaker and full mainsail along the English coast and only two boats, Team 888 and Garnier, have opted for the French coast. PRB is leading the fleet with Ecover (Mike Golding) tailing by just six miles. VMI belonging to Sébastien Josse, is in third place, just 7 miles behind the leader.

Vincent Riou (PRB) chatted from the boat this morning: “We’re making really good progress under spinnaker along the English coast and we had up to 25 knots of wind during the night under a large spinnaker.”

Mike Golding on Ecover was pretty happy with the situation this morning commenting: “I am a little surprised by our second position as we made a few errors sailing under spinnaker. We are pleased with these initial positions. It’s going to become more complicated on the approach to the Scilly Isles though and it will be a lot more tactical. It’s likely to be a lot slower up front soon!”