While the 9 crews cast off early this morning bound for the race zone in the bay of Fécamp, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild co-ordinated activities with Gitana Team's shore crew and Marc Guillemot's crew to secure Gitana X's platform.

Yesterday's weather conditions prevented any attempts for the Team to intervene rapidly.  As a result Gitana X spent the night at sea, anchored so as to control its drifting.  Today's calm finally provided the divers with the opportunity to go under the platform and cut through the mast to free the boat of its rigging.  The lifeboat association then took over to tow the boat to the basin of Fécamp's commercial port where operations to lift and right the boat should be performed as soon as possible.

On the water the 9 trimarans out racing put on a fantastic show, linking together three legs during the day.  The action opened with a windward leeward course, followed by a 30 mile coastal course and completed by a final windward leeward course.  The light breeze that was blowing between 5 and 10 knots today, meant that composure was paramount in the tactics with maximum concentration in the manœuvres and rounding of marks.  Sergio Tacchini and Gitana 11 came off best in this delicate game.

This evening, Gitana 11's crew are really in contention for a fine place on the podium of this Grand Prix de Fécamp, closing down hard on leader Sergio Tacchini. Supported by a crew that is increasingly bonded and high performance, the tandem of Fred Le Peutrec at the helm and Yann Guichard on the tactics, has impressed everyone today with Gitana 11 ranking 3rd, 1st and 2nd respectively during the day's legs, with a provisional 2nd place in the general ranking after 4 legs, just one point behind Sergio Tacchini who are currently under threat from an appeal by Groupama in leg 3.

Tomorrow promises to be windier than today but still considerably lighter than yesterday.  There are still a possible 3 legs to be raced tomorrow but the Grand Prix de Fécamp has already been validated by a total of 4 legs contested yesterday and today.

Results of the second leg of the Grand Prix de Fécamp :

1 - Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tacchini)
2 - Lalou Roucayrol (Banque Populaire)
3 - Fred Le Peutrec (Gitana 11)
4 - Stève Ravusssin (Banque Covefi)
5 - Franck Cammas (Groupama II)
6 - Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant)
7 - Alain Gautier (Foncia)
8 -Thomas Coville (Sodebo)
9 - Philippe Monnet (Sopra Group)
DNC - Yves Parlier (Mediatis-Région Aquitaine)
DNC - Marc Guillemot (Gitana X)

Results of the third leg of the Grand Prix de Fécamp (provisional):

1 - Fred Le Peutrec (Gitana 11)
2 - Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tacchini)
3 - Franck Cammas (Groupama II)
4 - Alain Gautier (Foncia)
5 - Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant)
6 - Lalou Roucayrol (Banque Populaire)
7 - Thomas Coville (Sodebo)
8 - Stève Ravusssin (Banque Covefi)
9 - Philippe Monnet (Sopra Group)
DNC - Yves Parlier (Mediatis-Région Aquitaine)
DNC - Marc Guillemot (Gitana X)

Results of the fourth leg of the Grand Prix de Fécamp :

1 - Franck Cammas (Groupama II)
2 - Fred Le Peutrec (Gitana 11)
2 - Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tacchini)
4 - Thomas Coville (Sodebo)
5 - Alain Gautier (Foncia)
6 - Lalou Roucayrol (Banque Populaire)
7 - Stève Ravusssin (Banque Covefi)
8 - Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant)
9 - Philippe Monnet (Sopra Group)
DNC - Yves Parlier (Mediatis-Région Aquitaine)
DNC - Marc Guillemot (Gitana X)

Provisional General Ranking after 4 legs

1 - Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tacchini) : 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 7 points
2 - Fred Le Peutrec (Gitana 11) : 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 = 8 points
3 - Franck Cammas (Groupama II) : 3 + 5 + 3 + 1 = 12 points
4 - Lalou Roucayrol (Banque Populaire) : 5 + 2 + 6 + 6 = 19 points
5 - Alain Gautier (Foncia) : 4 + 7 + 4 + 5 = 20 points
6 - Stève Ravusssin (Banque Covefi) : 6 + 4 + 8 + 7 = 25 points
7 - Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) : 7 + 6 + 5 + 8 = 26 points
8 - Thomas Coville (Sodebo) : 8 + 8 + 7 + 4 = 27 points
9 - Philippe Monnet (Sopra Group) : 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 36 points
10 -  Marc Guillemot (Gitana X) : 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 48 points
10 ex-Yves Parlier (Mediatis-Région Aquitaine) : 12 + 12 + 12  + 12 = 48 points