Monday morning the leaders of the Vendée Globe are riding a secondary depression north of Rio de Janeiro and starting to fly downwind towards the Cape of Good Hope.
Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) sailing at 23 knots continues to lead, second is Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE) 43nm back and third Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) 71nm back.
This leading group have stretched their lead, Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) is fourth and British skipper Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) is fifth, but now 118nm off the leader.
The almost perfect conditions, riding ahead of the low pressure in still relatively flat water, has seen a memorable evening and night for the fast moving lead group on the Vendée Globe who successively pushed up the 24 hour speed record, almost playing tit for tat with the solo monohull mark.
The latest record is Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) who made 579.86 (1073kms) nautical miles, bettering his 574.41 nm which he set the previous ranking. Thomas Ruyant on sistership VULNERABLE did 568.35 nm.
Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Cœur) is 10th, 269nm off the leader, and Pip Hare (MEDALLIA) is 15th, 485 nm off the leader.
Anthony Marchand, the French skipper of Actual Ultim 3 gave his take on the current situation in the South Atlantic.
The first ten or twelve will probably succeed in setting off on it, but not all of them will succeed in holding on to it for as long.
The two leaders, Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant might end up being the only ones to ride it until the Cape of Good Hope. It will actually be decided by a few miles.
It is certain that in eight days, there is a risk of a 2,000 mile gap between the leader of the foilers and the bulk of the pack made up of boats with daggerboards. However, nothing will be set in stone.
It could very well come back from behind, as was the case during the last edition. On a round the world race, the elastic regularly stretches and then relaxes. We have seen it again in recent days.
Vendee Globe Leaders at 10:00 hrs GMT Monday 5 November 2024
1st FRA Charlie Dalin MACIF Santé Prévoyance
2nd FRA Thomas Ruyant VULNERABLE
3rd FRA Yoann Richomme PAPREC ARKÉA
4th FRA Sébastien Simon Groupe Dubreuil
5th GBR Sam Goodchild VULNERABLE
6th FRA Jérémie Beyou CHARAL
7th FRA Nicolas Lunven HOLCIM – PRB
8th FRA Yannick Bestaven MAÎTRE COQ V
9th FRA Paul Meilhat Biotherm
10th GBR/FRA Samantha Davies Initiatives-Cœur
11th SUI Justine Mettraux Teamwork-Team Snef
12th FRA Clarisse Crémer L’OCCITANE en Provence
13th GER Boris Herrmann MALIZIA – SEAEXPLORER
14th FRA Benjamin Dutreux GUYOT ENVIRONNEMENT – WATER FAMILY
15th GBR Pip Hare MEDALLIA
16th FRA Romain Attanasio FORTINET – BEST WESTERN
17th FRA Damien Seguin GROUPE APICIL
18th FRA Louis Burton BUREAU VALLÉE
19th FRA/GER Isabelle Joschke MACSF
20th FRA Jean Le Cam TOUT COMMENCE EN FINISTERE – ARMOR-LUX
