Sébastien Josse (BT) and Marc Guillemot (Safran) were tied for the lead in the first rankings in this sixth Vendée Globe. At 1600h, the two solo sailors were 0.2 miles ahead of Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) in third. After three hours of racing the first thirteen boats of the 30-strong fleet are within a mile of each other.

At 15h05, Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) informed the Race Directors that he was returning to Les Sables d’Olonne with electrical problems. He is unable to charge his batteries, but hopes to set sail again as soon as possible.

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.