Vendée Globe race leader Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, holds a margin of just under 100 nautical miles on Thomas Ruyant onLinkedOut.
Ruyant, who moved into second place overnight, has roundly endorsed his pre-start ranking as a podium favourite on his Verdier design, with his solid routing choices enhanced by excellent speed in all conditions.
Jean Le Cam on Yes we Cam! has slipped to third place, with fourth placed Charlie Dalin on APIVIA closing fast.
Dalin and his similar Verdier design to Ruyant, have been showing near identical speeds over the last 24 hours in the trade winds conditions – both Ruyant and Dalin doing 486 nautical miles to 04:00hrs Tuesday morning.
Alex Thomson’s 24hr record is 536.81 nautical miles set on the 2017 race.
All the leading group are now beginning to show slowdown, signaling the start of the ITCZ as they approach the Equator. The leaders should pass into the Southern Hemisphere Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
Between the Canaries and Madeira, 11 IMOCAs are struggling in a high pressure ridge area of light winds.
From Arnaud Boissières, 23rd, to Clément Giraud, 31st, it is slow and frustrating “I stopped looking at the rankings four days ago because it was really killing my morale. I don’t want to know where I am, I’ll check again later” confided Clément Giraud late this morning.
Vendée Globe Leaders – Day 10 – Tue 17 Nov – Updated 17:00 hrs UK
1st GBR Alex Thomson – HUGO BOSS – 21,546 nm to finish
2nd FRA Thomas Ruyant – LinkedOut – 87 nm
3rd FRA Jean Le Cam – Yes we Cam! – 104 nm
4th FRA Charlie Dalin – APIVIA – 115 nm
5th FRA Kevin Escffier – PRB – 204 nm
6th FRA Louis Burton – BUREAU VALLEE 2 – 247 nm
7th FRA Boris Herrmann – SEAEXPLORER – 271 nm
8th GBR Sam Davies – INITIATIVES-COEUR – 281 nm
9th FRA Benjamin Dutreux – OMIA – Water Family – 284 nm
10th FRA Yannick Bestaven – Maître CoQ IV – 311 nm
11th FRA Damien Seguin – GROUPE APICIL – 325 nm
Other GBR:
21st GBR Pip Hare – Medallia – 1081 nm
27th GBR Miranda Merron – Campagne de France – 1387 nm
Retired: Nicolas Troussel
