DIEPPE, France — After Saturday's postponment, competing boats have left Dieppe, signaling the begin of the Tour Voile 2000.

Amateur boat Belvedere-EDC-Cassis was leading the fleet of the 34 Mumm 30s after the start on Sunday of the third leg of Tour Voile 2000 from Dieppe to Portsmouth. The boat skippered by Sylvain Chtounder and Vincent Portugal was the first one to reach the departure buoy ahead of Region Ile de de France skippered by Jimmy Pahun and Abalone/Canal. It wasn't an easy start as the east-northerly wind was quite light and the current very strong.

Eric Basset on Armox Lux-Dinard-Celtimusic had a good start as he was thefirst one to cross the line. At the pin end, the boats were struggling asthe current pushed them on the wrong side of the buoy.

St-Raphael Var-Generali had to perform a penalty 360 after it touched the first mark. Barlo Plastics, skippered by Adrian Stead, was very late on the line but managed to come back and was in sixth position at the departure buoy.

This first offshore leg across the channel will be a tricky one for thetacticians and navigators who have to watch out for current changes andferries.

Big gaps in the fleet can occur as a result of strong current fluctuations. This 115-mile race to England should take 15 to 20 hours.

Most of the teams were concerned about the security on this leg, many taking additional precautions such as strobe lights, jack lines, torchesand safety harnes.

As for all the offshore legs, the life jackets are compulsory as well as a life raft with a capacity of 6 to 8 crew.

"Tour Voile's saftey requirements are comprehensive and very strict andour crew is very safety conscious," says Kevin Sroul form british boat Easy Oars.