It is at 2.30 this afternoon that the Juan K designed boat skippered by Brian Thompson will be officially named, in the presence of his Excellency, the Minister of Labour of Bahrain, Dr. Majeed Bin Muhsin Al Alawi, Andrew Pindar – the CEO of  the Pindar Group, as well as Ian Williams, the world match racing champion.
Brian Thompson: “Today is a very important day. We're expecting a lot of people from Bahrain and Paris to come and see the boat. It's great that the people from  Bahrain see what the Vendée Globe looks like and how big an event it is. You really need to be here to appreciate that. I imagine they can compare it to a Formula 1 GP event (a circuit has been in place in Bahrain since 2004). It's the same level. The project came about thanks to a professional contact that Andrew Pindar had out there.  However, the people involved have become increasingly involved in the Vendée Globe project. We've been on the front page of the papers a few times and there have been a lot of press articles, which is amazing."
We can add that Bahrain is a kingdom in the Arab Emirates located on the Persian Gulf, near Saudi Arabia.  Bahrain is an island with a surface area of 665 km², with 700,000 inhabitants.

 

Jérémie Beyou: "It's quite simply the number of the French department, where Delta Dore has its headquarters. The firm is based in Combourg in Brittany, and so it is a way to take my hat off to them, after they have supported me for so long."

This is the number seen on Cheminées Poujoulat, which was in fact chosen by Bernard Stamm eight years ago. The Swiss skipper explains this choice: «In 2000, few people believed in my project, and thought I would make it to the start or complete the construction of my boat. Poker players will understand why I chose seven: if you play well, with a pair of sevens, you can beat four aces!»

This morning at eleven (CET),the guests on today's "Live from the Pontoons" programme will be Jérémie Beyou, Kito de Pavant, Rich Wilson and Raphael Dinelli (in order of appearance). Moreover, Pierre-Louis Castelli and Frédéric Ottenhof will be joined by Denis Horeau, the Vendée Globe Race director, who will talk about the line-up of this year's race. "Live from the Pontoons", the Vendée Globe radio show, every morning live on the website at 11h00.

The weather in Les Sables is fairly dull today with rain forecast this afternoon. The 15-20 knot northerly wind (force 4 to 5) will veer north-easterly this afternoon with gusts around 30 knots expected this evening.
The sea is slight becoming moderate this evening.

Sea temp: 15 degrees.

Tide times
Morning: coefficient 66 - Low tide 0h35 1.66m High tide 6h22 4.77m
Evening: coefficient 61 - Low tide 12h56 1.68m  High tide 18h35 4.48m

Spirit of Weymouth and Hugo Boss returned to the fold last night, back at their rightful places at the pontoons in Port Olona. Hugo Boss sailed for just over two hours through a chilly evening in winds around 15kts and assumed her place back in the lineup just after 1930h. Steve White's boat looks resplendent with her new paint job although it will be next week before their sposnor is announced.Bahrain Team Pindar, which is skippered by Brian Thompson, is being officially named today. Hugo Boss is sailing again this morning.