Vendée Globe

Now lined up in Michel Desjoyeaux’ s wake, Roland Jourdain is now 63.9 miles behind,  losing only around four miles as the leading duo make for Cape Horn. Desjoyeaux has around 966 miles to make at 1830h GMT as the leading five set themselves up for a final pasting before they can escape the Pacific.

Bilou has been consistently within the 60-70 miles range of the leader since Wednesday making small gains:

“It’s normal, he has more wind than me,” Desjoyeaux said today, “But things will get going again. The wind is coming from 322° and I must have 28/30 knots. The boat’s making 18 knots and we’re sailing 12° off the direct course, which is at around 120°. Right now the sea is nice and smooth. From time to time the boat goes off into a surf at 25/27 knots. There’s a fairly normal sea state and it’s pretty calm for this area. When you’re on the right tack in relation to the course and the direction of the sea, I can’t tell you what a delight it is!”

“When there’s 25 knots of breeze, conditions are light. And when there’s 20 knots, it’s calm. And when you’re in the right place, there is always wind. As such, you always have less than 25 knots… From time to time you want things to calm down, you want it to stop. Now though, that’s not how you stay at the head of the pack in the Vendée Globe. You have to withstand the conditions 24/7, 7 days a week here… It’s not unbearable but it does weigh on you a little.”

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