The early leading boats are all from the drawingboard of Farr Yacht Design (BT, Paprec Virbac and PRB), while Dee Caffari's Aviva just behind them is an Owen-Clarke design. Skippers Seb Josse and Jean-Pierre Dick will also be closely matched, having trained together at Port-la-Foret. Also in the top 10 were the two Swiss skippers Bernard Stamm and Dominique Wavre, sailing side by side.

As the competitors left the spectator boats behind and headed out to sea the breeze has built to upwards of 22 knots.

Defending champion Vincent Riou on PRB, and Paprec-Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick) have led the 30-strong fleet away from Les Sables d'Olonne. Sebastien Josse on BT has been climbing well to windward to join them at the front, with Dee Caffari on Aviva not far away. Hugo Boss was also set nicetly to windward, while Brian Thompson is in the middle of the pack but showing plenty of pace. Sam Davies on Roxy is sailing lower than the leaders, while Mike Golding on Ecover is chasing hard to catch up.

After the emotional farewells on the dock, the final goodbyes were an undignified scramble for most teams, with shore crews despatched to RIBs at the very last minute.

With one minute to go it was Foncia who was closest to the line, but at the gun Mike Golding on Ecover 3 was ahead — too early, he was called OCS and returned. Vincent Riou on PRB pulled away into an early lead, with Aviva on his hip — Dee Caffari having got a great start on the far right-hand side of the course. Seb Josse's BT, Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, and Jérémie Beyou's Delta Dore were all in the front row of the main pack.

The fleet are being chased by a flotilla of RIBs, spectator boats, and yachts, with 60 Zodiacs marshalling the race area.

The breeze is keeping the sailors guessing in the final approach to the start of the Vendée Globe - currently it is about 12 knots, but very up and down. All the skippers will be trying to get the boats set up for the conditions they expect while they still have support crew on board to hoist headsails etc.

Mike Golding and Alex Thomson are currently sailing under full main, but Cheminées Poujoulat,  Delta Dore, Gitana, BT, and the majority of the fleet have opted for one reef. Headsail choice also varies – Norbert Sedlacek is one of the 'adventurers' in this fleet who have opted for a deep reefed main and staysail, clearly taking a long-term view on the expected conditions for the next 12 hours and setting up for safety.

Half an hour to go and most of the boats are milling close to the start area with nearly full main up and the few remaining members of the team still on board are being transferred to waiting RIBs — a tricky test of timing in these waves!

French Vendée legend Catherine Chabaud — who became the first woman to sail around the world alone when she completed the race in 1996-97 — is providing commentary on board the media boat. She points out that although these sailors are about to spend three months afloat, it's not unknown for them to suffer from seasickness in the opening hours due to their severe stress levels, tiredness, and messy, choppy seas in close to shore.

The 30 yachts have now made their way along the coast towards Port Bourgenay, to the restricted start area, approximately three miles offshore. A large confused sea is running, with a swell of 2-3 metres - some of the support and media RIBs have been getting airborne over some of the larger waves at speed! Most of the skippers have deep reefs in the mainsail and several are down below going through final weather updates with their meteo teams — after the 10 minute gun they will be on their own!

Michel Dejoyeaux on Foncia settled into a groove early on, sailing with nearly full main and their solent up. Moments ago an 18-knot squall passed through, bringing rain with it, and poor visibility. The wind is currently 12-15 knots from 205 degrees, and expected to be 20-25 knots at the start time.The countdown begins at 12h54, with an eight-minute sequence until the start the start at 1302. The Race Committee boat, "Le Tenace," a French navy tug, is already in place out on the start line.