Vendée Globe

For Michel Desjoyeaux now, with a lead of over 500 miles, life on board Foncia is still about maintaining the regular relentless routine.

True, the 20 knots NE’ly tradewinds and warm sunshine, shimmering, bucking white capped seas nearly 800 miles west of the Cape Verdes may seem like the perfect release. They are the elements of a dream escape from the wind battered, rain soaked streets of Northern Europe’s towns cities and winter’s daily humdrum treadmill - France’s metro boulot dodo (metro-work-sleep) ethic - but without the added challenge of a competitor pushing on his hip or even ahead, pushing him to work for the tiny gains, Michel Desjoyeaux has just to stay on top of his routine – weather, work, sleep – which can be just as uncompromising as it is for the city worker. There is nothing too taxing about his weather routing at the moment, his work rota is more about maintenance than pushing at 100%, and keeping well rested in these regular conditions is about living with his regular rhythm.

Indeed, just as it was on his outward race so his return passage to Les Sables is now a true solo project, making the best miles with little regard for what his rivals are doing. Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement is making 10.8 knots this morning to Desjoyeaux’s 10.8, and so Foncia’s lead has expanded again overnight, while Armel Le Cléach in third has remained consistent making a steady 9.7 knots average.

Marc Guillemot has been to within thirteen miles of the beaches of Brasil, where he has seems to have been rewarded in his pursuit of a thermal breeze to try to make good some of the miles he lost yesterday in very light conditions. This morning Guillemot managed to find a little more breeze to take her up to ten knots, while Sam Davies’ stop-start progress has once more been slow and frustrating off Rio. 

There are growing signs that the Trio, together since before Cape Horn, are progressively splitting apart. Only Brian Thompson has really benefited overnight, making over 13 knots, second fastest in the fleet this morning after Desjoyeaux.  He is on the attack and extending his lead over Dee Caffari to 96 miles and is now 560 miles behind Sam Davies.  Thompson’s attack might be considered not particularly gallant given that Caffari is celebrating her birthday today. Arnaud Boissières is now 142 miles behind her in 8^th place.

Steve White continues to head north-eastwards, off the coast of Argentina,  while the three remaining in the Pacific, Rich Wilson,  770 miles from Cape Horn. Wilson had to climb his mast to unhook the running backstay’s shock cord retaining line from the spreaders. The duo of  Raphael Dinelli and Norbert Sedlacek are about 700 miles from the final ice gate and still in light winds. The Austrian skipper has now fallen about 90 miles behind his French running mate, and has reported electrical problems with his wind instruments which could compromise him.

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