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Hardly 48 hours after the Figaro fleets started from Belle-Ile-en-Mer a clear split emerged between those skippers heading north and those opting for the south. The northerly boats decided to take the more direct route and cross the anticyclone of the Azores, whilst those heading south lengthened the route considerably, but with the hope of gaining more speed by picking up the trade winds.

TROUSSEL chose the second option, diving deep to the south and profiting from near ideal conditions. After seeing the more northerly boats move into a big lead, TROUSSEL was able to pick up speed and haul in the leaders and his daily averages increased rapidly.

On 9 April, TROUSSEL jumped from 16th to 3rd in the classification. His main rivals were now CAUDRELIER and ROUXEL, and TROUSSEL elected to dive further south again in the hope of gaining a bit of crucial extra wind. The move worked - as CAUDRELIER put it, 'Nico is winning his bet.'

The gamble south had paid off and TROUSSEL took the gun in Guadeloupe last night. He completed the course from Belle-Ile-en-Mer, France in 21 days, 9 hours, 11 minutes and 45 seconds at an average speed of 6.68 knots. ROUXEL came in second, just under 1 hour behind, with CAUDRELIER another 1 hour and 17 minutes further back.