Of the four Pogo 2’s in the race, it is Tymen who came good. His advantage is his perfect knowledge of his Pogo 2. Erwan works at the « Structures » naval yard where all the Pogo series units are manufactured and in so doing he actively participates in the design of the latest generation Pogos. The experience and methodology of this 28 year old engineer have really paid off in his domination of both legs.

He did give spectators a few worries before the doldrums however. David had opted for a very south-easterly course. At the finish he denied having had technical problems. "It was a choice, he said. I knew what I wanted to do." Afterwards he pulled off a fancy comeback, hence today‚s excellent position. After him the finishers continued to file into Salvador de Bahia throughout the day under sunny skies with little wind. The calm that invaded the closing miles made the skippers all the more anxious to make land.

All of them say how hard it was, their faces hollow with fatigue, their eyes reddened by lack of sleep. They are all exhausted and gaunt but happy to have finished. Ian Munslow (326 - Ishtar) had a blinder of a race in this second leg with a provisional time of 8h19’55’’ local time after 32d 5h 08’10’’ , holding off the multiple talents of Irishman Cian McCarthy (393 - The Tom Crean who finished shortly afterwards.

After dismasting during the first leg David Lancry (121 - Mensura Frost) finished the first leg on the eve of the start of the second and he admitted today that he wanted to : « benefit from the same weather conditions as the others. I set off immediately, but I was knackered. After two days I was forced to drop the sails. I was finished. » Beacon problems then cut him off from everyone so he was particularly happy to have finished and be able to talk.

Manuel Castilla (167 - Vision Originale) said he was delighted with the leg : «  But I would have preferred to finish 4th and for Michel Mirabel to have finished the race. » The lack of lucidity due to extreme fatigue and above all the desire to win the second leg on his Pogo, caused an error today. The 54 year old fighter, Michel Mirabel, committed it. He wanted to take the shortest route to glory to get back a few hundred metres on Erwan Tymen and suddenly «  Gwalarn IV » was driven onto the rocks.

A sad epilogue after 2000 miles of madness, suffering and deprivation and a fantastic race. Michel Mirabel will not finish his 3rd transat. His race ended just 10 miles from Salvador. His boat lay on its side on a rock surrounded by numerous others, in the midst of sets of breakers. Salvage was deemed impossible by the locals but with a more powerful boat to tow it, a hundred metres of rope so as not to trap the rescue boat, three 25l bottles of seawater lashed onto the mast as a counterweight, several volunteers and two big waves...she was righted with just a few scratches.

David Raison (440 - Rayon Liquide) was obviously happy to have finished after Mirabel misfortune but was nonetheless angry with his westerly option : « It was a good idea at the start but when by the time I had understood that it was time to change position it was too late and there were other competitors further east who were better placed than me. »

As for Yann Riou (318 - Thrane et Thrane) he was satisfied too. His first question was to find out how far Jean-Pierre Balmes (330 - Cecim) was from him. Balmès had 3h49minutes on him in Lanzarote but this time he was a long way off. The first woman of the race to finish was the smiling Swedish sailor Pia L’Obry. She was welcomed by a crown of flowers, champagne and a bouquet of red roses, along with her partner and parents. Understandably, she could not conceal her pleasure as she made the finish line at a time of 1755’17’’(GMT)...

Translation Kate Jennings

• CLASSEMENT GÉNÉRAL PROTO 

Pos Voile Skipper Bateau Temps/1^er Vit. Moy.
 1 151 Armel Tripon MOULIN ROTY 29 jours 13 heures et 25 minutes
 2 260 Richard Mérigeaux BON PIED BON OEIL 30j6h37’34’
 3 240 Alex Pella AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT 30j8h47’24’
 4 347 Pierre Rolland EXTRADO 30j15h36’59’’

• CLASSEMENT ETAPE 2 PROTO

Pos Voile Skipper Bateau Temps/1^er Vit. Moy.
 1 151 Armel Tripon MOULIN ROTY 20 j 02:38:04 006.0
 2 240 Alex Pella AQUATEC - SANTIVERI - TEXKNIT + 0 j 11:03:06 005.9
 3 260 Richard Mérigeaux BON PIED BON OEIL + 0 j 17:20:10 005.8
 4 347 Pierre Rolland EXTRADO + 0 j 19:35:30 005.8
 5 354 Bruno Garcia SALADINO + 0 j 23:13:54 005.8
 6 312 Pascal Doin ASNQ + 1 j 04:31:38 005.7
 7 303 Enrico Podesta DIABOLO-SLAM + 1 j 06:14:52 005.7
 8 353 Willy Garcia CEYLAN DIAMANTES + 1 j 09:14:52 005.6
 9 139 François Cuinet REGLISSE + 1 j 11:04:27 005.6
 10 258 Marc Gascons TIP-TOP + 1 j 14:51:30 005.6
 11 385 Jaume Mumbru PORT DE BARCELONA + 1 j 15:18:30 005.6
 12 121 David Lancry MENSURA FROST + 1 j 18:45:36 005.5
 13 227 Donald Wright RUSSE NOIR + 1 j 20:44:39 005.5
 14 326 Ian Munslow ISHTAR + 1 j 21:39:51 005.5
 15 185 Thomas Valentin THOMAS HAWK + 1 j 21:48:42 005.5
 16 352 Luis Irisarri DEVIAJE.COM + 1 j 21:51:18 005.5
 17 138 Eric Defert AMIRAL DE BRETAGNE + 2 j 01:25:43 005.5

• CLASSEMENT ETAPE 2 SERIE 

Pos Voile Skipper Bateau Temps/1^er Vit. Moy.
 1 426 Erwan Tymen POGO 2 NAVY LEST 21 j 16:27:51 005.6
 2 440 David Raison RAYON LIQUIDE + 0 j 03:07:54 005.6
 3 167 Manuel Castilla VISION ORIGINALE + 0 j 03:15:36 005.6
 4 318 Yann Riou THRANE & THRANE + 0 j 05:42:23 005.5
 5 428 David Sineau FRANCE FERMETURES + 0 j 05:50:15 005.5
 6 282 Erwan Abalain MARION NOEL CONSEILS + 0 j 10:57:26 005.5