Almost two days behind the time to the Equator (1d 19h 45’ to be precise), it was still possible to make up for lost time on the way down the South Atlantic.  However, an uncooperative St. Helena high made the task of breaking Vincent Riou's 2004 record all the more difficult. In fact this stretch added another day to the difference in times… This virtual rounding of the Cape of Good Hope is also a point at which to analyse the order in the fleet and to compare the times taken by the leaders and those chasing behind.

The return of the late starters
In fact, this section between the Equator and the Cape of Good Hope, offered very varied experiences to the first 17 solo sailors to have passed this waypoint by Monday lunchtime.  Some lost time in comparison to the time they took to reach the Equator, while others made gains. The differences from the time to the leader at the tip of Africa (Sébastien Josse) offer us a better picture  of the order than an analysis of the distance to the finish. Some figures and some surprises…
 
In 2004 Vincent Riou (PRB) took 13d 14h 05’ to sail this section from the Equator-Cape of Good Hope. It is  Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), who smashes this time by sailing this distance in 12 days 04 hours 50 minutes followed by Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), the only other sailor to improve on the previous record with a time of 13d 08h 53’ !  All the other competitors took at least 14 days to reach this longitude…
 
The best times:
1-Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) : 12d 04h 50’
2-Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) : 13d 08h 53’
3-Marc Guillemot (Safran) : 14d 02h 09’
4-Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) : 14d 05h 43’
5-Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) : 14d 07h 25’
6-Yann Eliès (Generali) : 14d 07h 50’
7-Sébastien Josse (BT) : 14d 08h 55’
8-Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) : 14d 09h 47’
9-Mike Golding (Ecover 3) : 14d 10h 47’
10-Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) : 14d 11h 18’
11-Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) : 14d 11h 27’
12-Vincent Riou (PRB) : 14d 12h 16’
13-Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) : 14d 12h 26’
14-Samantha Davies (Roxy) : 14d 15h 22’
15-Dee Caffari (Aviva) : 14d 21h 50’
16-Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) : 14d 22h 47’
17-Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) : 15d 01h 10’
 
Losses and gains in the Atlantic
So who made losses and who made gains in the South Atlantic?  Once again, Bernard Stamm was the big winner, followed by Michel Desjoyeaux… Afterwards results vary considerably in this stretch from the Equator to the Cape of Good Hope:
 
1-Sébastien Josse (1h45’ behind at the Equator, 1st to the Cape of Good Hope) : 1h45’ gained
2-Yann Eliès (4h behind at the Equator, 1h10 de retard at the Cape of Good Hope) : 2h50’ gained
3-Loïck Peyron (1st at the Equator, 1h46’ de retard at the Cape of Good Hope) : 1h46’ lost
4-Jean Pierre Dick (2h behind at the Equator, 2h47’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 47’ lost
5-Roland Jourdain (4h08’ behind at the Equator, 3h10’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 58’ gained
6-Jean Le Cam (8h45’ behind at the Equator, 3h48’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 4h57’ gained
7-Armel Le Cléac’h (3h56’ behind at the Equator, 4h34’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 38’ lost
8-Michel Desjoyeaux (1d06h43’ behind at the Equator, 4h56’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 1d01h47’ gained
9-Mike Golding (4h52’ behind at the Equator, 4h59’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 07’ lost
10-Vincent Riou (3h30’ behind at the Equator, 5h06’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 1h36’ lost
11-Marc Guillemot (19h01’ behind at the Equator, 10h30’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 8h31’ gained
12-Dominique Wavre (15h15’ behind at the Equator, 12h00 at the Cape of Good Hope) : 3h15’ gained
13-Brian Thompson (13h45’ behind at the Equator, 1d03h55’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 14h30’ lost
14-Samantha Davies (16h53’ behind at the Equator, 1d09h50’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 16h57’ lost
15-Bernard Stamm (3d19h35’ behind at the Equator, 1d13h45’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 2d05h40’ gained
16-Dee Caffari (1d12h55’ behind at the Equator, 2d00h05’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 11h10’ lost
17-Arnaud Boissières (1d13h40’ behind at the Equator, 2d01h47’ at the Cape of Good Hope) : 12h07’ lost
 
These figures show that the biggest gains were made by Bernard Stamm with a positive gain of two days and five hours, followed by Michel Desjoyeaux, who has clawed back more than one day, by Marc Guillemot with 8.5 hours, by Jean Le Cam with almost 5 hours… As for the biggest losses, these were shouldered by Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) on the most powerful of the IMOCA Open 60’s, but the British sailor did have to execute a 4-hour penalty… which was to cost him dearly, as during that time he missed a weather system.  

DBo.