After what appears to be a good opening to the race, Charles Caudrelier is leading the way across the Atlantic, but is one of the sixteen skippers who crossed the start line too early yesterday according to the Race Committee. The Gitana team denies this, which explains why the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild still has not carried out the penalty. The Jury may meet this evening to judge the case.
With a lead of thirty miles or so and given the performance of the Ultim 32/23 sailing at between 22 and 25 knots, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is around ninety minutes ahead of her nearest rivals. In other words, the 4-hour penalty will cost her dearly at this stage of the race.
However, the Gitana Team contests this accusation and has asked the Race Committee to check the position of the boat on its trackers. “The start buoys are fitted with trackers indicating positions every second. All of the data has been recovered from the supplier of the beacons and will be compared to the track of the boat,” explained Francis le Goff. The Race Director added, “Either the committee considers that they have made a mistake given these elements and the penalty will be cancelled, or the committee will confirm its first judgement and the International Jury will meet to give a decision.”
In the first case, the result would be announced this evening. On the contrary, if the Jury needs to meet and deliberate we will have to wait at least another 24 hours. If the Jury confirms the opinion of the Race Committee and maintains the 4-hour penalty during which the boat will have to stop, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will have to carry out this penalty within 48 hours of that judgement.