The finish line is already in sight for the Ultime giants: Full speed ahead to Martinique after the jibing marathon

The idea of the Jacques Vabre organisers to send the crews in the four very different classes across the Atlantic on courses of very different lengths is likely to be rewarded with a thrilling finale. According to current calculations, the Ultim giants are expected to be the first to cross the finish line off Fort-de-France on Martinique next Tuesday evening. However, the chasers in the Ocean Fifty division and the Imocas will not be too long in coming. Only the Class 40 field, about half of which has passed the Cape Verde Islands, will take longer. Here is a map overview of where the boats are currently located:

The two Cs remain the leaders of the Giants of the Seas: Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas on "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild". After a good 13 days at sea, the top French duo still had around 1200 nautical miles to go to the finish. They were followed 400 nautical miles behind by Armel Le Cléac'h and Kevin Escoffier from "Banque Populaire XI". Another 100 nautical miles or so behind them, François Gabart and Tom Laperche on "SVR Lazartique" were in attack mode, travelling at over 30 knots. Armel Le Cléac'h reported off board with this thought in mind: "We are keeping a close eye on François and Tom so that they can't take too many miles off us."

After a longer section with jibe after jibe, the Ultime sailors as well as the crews on the smaller Ocean Fifties can look forward to the home stretch, which should take them to Martinique at a rapid pace, almost like on the motorway and without many manoeuvres.

The Ocean Fifty crews have recently been struggling with their gybing series in 20 to 25 knots of wind. The two "Leyton" co-skippers Sam Goodchild and Aymeric Chapelier could tell you a thing or two about it. Goodchild said: "We were pretty busy with the gybes, with only about an hour between each one. That's why we only got 45 minutes sleep each at the end. We weren't quite as fast as 'Koesio' recently. That forces us to try out a few new things. We are actually discovering new possibilities step by step."

The Ocean Fifty field was led by Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben on "Primonial" later on Saturday afternoon. Behind them - less than 30 nautical miles apart - Erwan Le Roux and Xavier Macaire on "Koesio" and the "Leyton" crew battled for second place.

Sam Davies on the jibing challenge: "pretty sporty!"

In the Imocas, Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière on "LinkedOut" defended their lead at the start of the 14th day at sea ahead of the top favourites Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat on "Apivia". The "LinkedOut" crew were the first to pass the waypoint at Fernando de Noronha.

Behind "Apivia" followed "Charal", "Arkéa Paprec" and "Initiatives Cœur" at the start of the weekend, whose skipper Sam Davies said: "We are happy to have reached the trade winds to the south. We are travelling fast! The currents and weather conditions have been complicated. We had to jibe a lot. That was pretty sporty. But we're used to that after the Canary Islands and Cape Verde." Davies himself had to laugh at this realisation, then continued: "We're already looking forward to seeing the coast of Martinique. But right now, we're living in the moment." Munich-born French-German Isabelle Joschke was in 13th place with Fabien Delahaye on her "Macsf".

The closest race is currently still in the leading group of the Class 40 fleet. The first ten boats are separated by just over 70 nautical miles. Antoine Carpentier and Pablo Santurde Del Arco on "Redman" continue to set the pace at the front. Less than 40 nautical miles behind them, Charles-Louis Mourruau and Andrea Fantini on "Guidi" were battling with Jonas Gerckens and Benoit Herzsprung on "Volvo" for second place with only around three nautical miles remaining until the finish.

Similar to the soloists in the Mini-Transat, the two-handed teams in the Class40 in the Transat Jacques Vabre now have to decide how far south they want to go before they start their westward leap across the Atlantic. The scenario seems comparable: Less wind, but the shorter distance to the west to be weighed against the longer route with more wind to the south. In the mini-transat, the south-facing brave had prevailed. It could happen again. Click here for the interim results (please click!). And here is the tracker.