Biggger squalls interspersed with unsettled, light winds are now spread over a north-south band some 400 miles wide.

There are two things which might happen for the leader, neither is in his favour.

The first is that they will contract with him, so simply sliding back to the north with Foncica and so Jourdain’s benefit may be augmented, or they stay just as wide and as active and catch Bilou earlier.

Foncia has slowed to 7.7 knots now and the advantage, such as it is, has swung back to Jourdain who has regained 37 miles since last night. Foncia still 462.5 miles ahead with 3351 miles to go.

For Veolia Environnment the trade winds have always been lighter, some 7-8 knots less in wind speed, and so Jourdain has always been destined to lose out on this stretch.  

In third, BritAir and skipper Armel Le Cléac’h has been in these lighter trades too, also going less than 10 knots this morning. He is over 1000 miles behind Foncia, and 634.5 miles behind Jourdain.

The Cape Horn Trio still have good speed at the moment, in good breeze but they are approaching the high pressure and will start to slow in less than 24 hours. That’s bad news for Brian Thompson because his lead over Arnaud is just 71 miles, though he has gained three miles this morning and has been making 14 knots of boat speed to Calli’s 11.4. In turn Dee Caffari is on fire, is just 2.2 miles behind Boissières. She promised to try and show the boys how its done, and she is doing a good job today.

Steve White has a cold front to deal with as he heads to Cape Horn, 35knots of NW’ly wind and has just 136 miles to go to the Horn, he should get there between 10 and midnight GMT.

Here’s our daily summary of what the French speaking skippers had to say today:

Sam Davies (Roxy):  Slow sailing, so feeling frustrated.  A huge wind hole, where there is no wind on either side, so has no real choices and can do nothing about Marc catching her.  Trying to do her best but knows she is being caught and it’s going to be a race after that.  Calm conditions for the first time for ages, so that’s why she opened her Christmas meal yesterday.  Also a way to cheer herself up, as feeling a bit down. Sails flapping and a bit of a swell left so didn’t stay up the mast for long.

Marc Guillemot (Safran): Has just finished manoeuvres and since Saturday night has had good winds narrowing the gap to Sam. Hoping it will continue.  Complicated weather ahead.  At the moment he is in a better position but further ahead not simple and will have to find a rabbit run through. Sam is a target in the next 24 hours.  Then, has ambitious idea ahead trying to catch Brit Air. Complicated but there are ways through and wants to narrow the gap by the finish.

Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air): Sailing past the island of Trindad that we passed on the way down.  Sailing on the starboard tack and hope to stay like that for some time.  Feels he is back with civilisation as has seen cargo ships. Has repaired his navigation lights.   15-16n knots of wind and decent upwind sailing speeds.  Trade winds ahead don’t look very strong though. Passed close to islands.  Surprised there were no fishing boats in the shallow waters as off Brittany that’s where you find boats.  Hasn’t studied Doldrums much yet, but not much choice than to deal with them. Is there to learn as this is his first Vendée Globe, but has already learnt a lot.  A time for reflection at the moment as less work to do than a  few days ago in thundery squalls. Will be looking at various things with his shore team when he finishes.  Clouds like you find in trade winds. Sea temperature 27° and air temperature 29°C. First flying fish hit the mast, but not a fan of them

Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Ocean Vital): More or less sailing alongside Norbert Sedlacek. For six days the barometer hasn’t moved and sailing in light upwind conditions.  High-pressure conditions you don’t expect down here.  The world is upside down. Nice to be with someone else, as they can pace themselves and anticipate manoeuvres, while at the same time it is a safety argument.   Taking photos and filming each other.  Exchanging information as they both have communications problems. Exceptional they are so close.  Intend to stay together, but not necessarily that close.  It’s just by chance they are alongside each other regularly as sailing at the same speed.  Reckons he has enough food to complete the voyage.  Reckons it will take 5 or 6 days to reach the next Gate.