On 26th January, the duel between Virbac-Paprec 3 and Foncia was in full swing. Unfortunately, Michel Desjoyeaux and François Gabart were forced to announce their retirement after the top of their mast broke shortly after passing the Cape of Good Hope. It was thought that this would take all the excitement away from the race. Particularly as Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron continued to increase their lead as they sailed across the Indian Ocean and were more than 500 miles ahead of MAPFRE, Groupe Bel and Estrella Damm. On 8th February, the French duo passed the longitude of Cape Leuuwin and went on to enter the Pacific with a fairly comfortable lead. They were heading for the Cook Strait, when there was a sudden development: on 15th February, Jean-Pierre Dick announced to the Race Director that they intended to make a pit stop in Wellington, after breaking two mainsail batten cars. This second pit stop for Virbac-Paprec 3 (they had previously stopped in Brazil in January) changed the situation in the race.

A closely fought contest between Virbac and MAPFRE
Dick and Peyron set off again from Wellington in the lead, but were only 128 miles ahead of the determined Spaniards, Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, who decided they would not be stopping. Gradually, the Spanish duo narrowed the gap to within a few miles of the leaders. There was a fierce battle and the pace remained relentless. The Olympic champions, who had little experience of IMOCA racing were really impressive. On 25th February, after 56 days of racing, they were a mere eight miles from the leaders! The rest of the fleet was however relegated to more than 1000 miles behind. With Groupe Bel and Estrella Damm making pit stops in Wellington, Renault ZE grabbed third place, confirming the excellent standard of the Spanish contingent in this double-handed race.

“It couldn’t be anything but magical”
Approaching Cape Horn, Virbac-Paprec 3 extended their lead over Mapfre and rounded the legendary rock on 3rd March, with a certain amount of relief, after experiencing some incredibly tough conditions in the Southern Ocean. This impression was confirmed by Jean-Pierre Dick: “It couldn’t be anything but magical and getting around the Horn is something you need to work for. On top of that, both Loïck and myself were forced out of the Vendée Globe so we wanted to gain our revenge rounding the cape. It is also a reward for the sailor, as this stretch compensates for all the wind we suffered in the south and everything we’ve been through.” In spite of suffering some damage, Virbac-Paprec 3 had thus rounded the three major capes (Good Hope, Leuuwin, Horn) at the front of the fleet. Shortly after rounding the Horn in second place, MAPFRE stopped for a few hours in a bay near Tierra del Fuego to sort out a problem with a halyard before setting off again. On Wednesday, there were five boats sailing in the South Atlantic (Renault ZE, Neutrogena, Groupe Bel, Mirabaud and Estrella Damm) and five with the Horn still ahead of them (Hugo Boss, GAES Centros Auditivos, Fòrum Marítim Català, We Are Water and Central Lechera Asturiana – with Juan Merediz and Francisco Palacio making a pit stop in Wellington trying to find a way to repair their mast which broke during a storm in the Sea of Tasmania.

The final(long) stretch
Leading the fleet, Virbac-Paprec 3 and MAPFRE, dealing with the St. Helena high are trying to get away from the high-pressure area in which they are currently sailing. With around 5000 miles to go to the finish in Barcelona, Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron are still in the lead, but with the climb back up the Atlantic looking very complicated, it is still far from over. After St-Helena, the crews are going to have to deal with the Doldrums, before facing the Mediterranean, which is bound to complicate things. Kito de Pavant and Sébastien Audigane would like to be there. But the co-skippers on Groupe Bel, have identified some damage to their keel head and have been forced to make a pit stop in Ushuaia to take stock of the situation. We will keep you informed…