Vendée Globe

For eight days now, Raphaël Dinelli has been battling it out with a ridge of high pressure separating his Akena Verandas from the finishing line. He crossed the Bay of Biscay tacking upwind in easterlies, growing lighter and lighter, trying to avoid the wind hole, which finally took him prisoner during the night.
“I’m becalmed in the middle of a group of Spanish fishermen!” he complained this morning. 50 miles from the finish, Raphaël is waiting for the wind to come around to the north west and to blow at around 12 knots. This should allow him to meet up quickly with his supporters gathered in Les Sables d’Olonne. The tide will allow him to enter the harbour channel between 14.30 and 18.45 GMT.

A crucial day ahead for Karen Leibovici (Benefic). After 125 days at sea and an excruciating climb back up the North Atlantic, the young yachtswoman will have to deal with a final hurdle tomorrow, when she will have to contend with the high-pressure bubble that held Raphaël Dinelli prisoner during the night. Karen is sailing off the tip of Brittany and is likely to pick up the north westerly wind during the day. In spite of all the technical problems she is suffering from, she will have to take advantage of these fine conditions to slide across the top of the wind hole, in order to avoid getting cruelly held up tomorrow morning within sight of the finish. Benefic has only 250 miles left to go. The finish will be a great relief for Karen Leibovici, who is truly at the end of her tether.
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