There was an incredibly close finish yesterday evening where by the clever use of the tide, BP beat Isle of Man across the line by 1 minute and 26 seconds to take third. Compaq and Logica had finished already in first and second.
They overtook right at the end after a day that saw the lead swapping a number of times. Another close finish this morning was between Norwich Union, who held off TeamSpirIT, to eventually win by close to 2 hours; after all this excitement it looks like there will be only one more finisher today.
LG FLATRON had 55 miles left to go at 08:00 this morning and with a lead of 94 miles on Quadstone in 9th, they look certain to take 8th place. This is their worst result so far in the race and although they must still be considered favourites to take the overall prize it is not a foregone conclusion.
Of the 5 yachts still at sea Quadstone had the most successful day, doubling their lead on Save the Children to 12 miles. They managed a run of 147 miles towards the finishing line although they covered considerably more ground in tacking backwards and forwards.
Veritas is bringing up the rear in this group of three, 20 miles behind Quadstone. With 150 miles to go there could still be changes in position amongst them as the forecast is for the wind to swing to the northeast which would favour Save the Children who are further north. Indications this morning are that Quadstone are continuing to head to the southeast whilst the other 2 are making ground to the northeast.
At the back, Olympic Group only managed a days run of 96 miles towards La Rochelle. They seem to be completely out of luck and with headwinds expected today, and for the wind to go lighter and more variable tomorrow, they are not going to get much time to recover before the final leg starts on Tuesday. Best estimate at the moment is for Olympic Group to finish sometime on Saturday.
Results, Leg 6:
1.Compaq
2.Logica
3.BP
4.Isle of Man
5.Spirit of Hong Kong
6.Norwich Union
7.Team Spirit
8.Save the Children
9.Quadstone
10.Veritas
11.Olympic Group-still to finish