At yesterday morning’s 07:30 UTC race organisation meeting, the head of the team from UNCL, Sylvie Viant, confirmed that she is entirely satisfied with the yachts entered in The Transat and has declared all multihulls and monohulls fit to race.

In compliance with the race organisation’s rigid safety standards, all yachts activated their CLS Argos MAR YX beacons the previous afternoon and checks to ensure that the satellite tracking system is operative will continue today. UNCL are currently testing all the competitor’s Iridium satellite telephones to test the network’s effectiveness and ensure that all 37 competitors entered in The Transat are able to communicate with the race office.

All the yachts entered in the race are now restricted to the marina at Plymouth Yacht Haven and any further test sailing is now forbidden. As all the yachts are now static, the marina’s staff had a busy day on the pontoons as spectators and visitors flock to witness this extraordinary collection of high powered race boats. Denied any opportunity for test sailing, all the competitors attended a skippers briefing at 08:30 UTC – possibly the last time they will assemble en-masse until the yachts meet on the start line at 14:00 UTC tomorrow (Bank Holiday Monday).