And as usual the rich get richer

As we mentioned yesterday Casinos are well designed traps that have a purpose to get you rid of all of your assets before you get out. The House always wins at the end so the sooner you are out the door the better you are off.
As we feared the second group with Lucas in the west and Joerg in the east got lured by the shiny slot machines just before the exit. They definetly lost touch with the front group but it will be very interesting to follow how the battle amongst them unfolds.



On the other hand the first four are safely in the southern trades with distances between them increasing - partly because of the bungee effect - David is the first who will be gettin better conditions - partly because of the different designs that perform in reaching conditions a bit different. And at the end it is off course the deliberation of the skipper which makes that extra .1 of a knot that at the end adds up to the miles necessary to beat your rivals. Remember the Yves le Blevec video from that part of the route in 2007? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-waLQBp8w

Also keep in mind that the difference they are opening to the second group probably means that the order they get into the finish will also be the final ranking for the Transat. With Sebastian out David has anyway the best time from the first leg. Thomas has a bit less than 5 hours deficit to David and Bertrand another good 8 hours behind Thomas while Antoine has 5 hours advantage to Bertrand. The chasing group is now 100+ miles behind Antoine which means at least 12 hours deficit.