Light air management is still the order of the day for the St Bart's-bound fleet of Beneteau Figaros, many of which are now rationing food and water.

ATLANTIC OCEAN — The group of Beneteau Figaros that has opted for the southern route in the Transat AG2R is wallowing in listless conditions while watching the northern leaders advance toward the St. Barth's finish and an anticipated May 15 arrival date. For a while, Flexipan (Gilles Chiorri and Dominic Vittet) and several other boats on the southern route were well positioned in the 30-strong fleet, but a high-pressure system has slowed them and increased the mileage between them and the advancing boats. Some in this southern grouping are continuing south with the hopes of finding more wind, which has increased from a scant two knots yesterday to five knots today. After 22 days of racing from Madeira, many competitors have been forced to ration food and water as the race begins to extend beyond the anticipated time frame. Holding the lead for the last 22 hours, Volkswagen Castrol (Jeremy Beyou and Pascal Bidegorry) made an agonizing 74 miles at a wretched three-and-half knot pace. The northern fleet is tightly bunched with Volkswagen Castrol and Sergi Tacchini-Itiner (Karine Fauconnier and Lionel Lemonchois) neck and neck, followed closely by BCG-X-HEC (Tanguy Lesselin and Charles Caudrelier-Benac).