Message received last night from Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), 24th, 1173 miles from the leader.
«Hi,
News from Cheminées Poujoulat. Things are going rather well.  I'm taking advantage of a decent NE'ly flow to make good progress. I'm starting to see some squalls. The air is much more unstable and there are a lot of sail changes and trimming to do.  Each time I can, depending on the wind oscillations, I gybe to head a little further west, as I move southwards. The sea is a bit choppy with some short waves. But I think the wind is likely to ease off. The high speed sailing is over and it will be much quieter.  I haven't yet seen any flying fish and the moon is just disappearing.  I think we're lucky, as it will be back with us as we enter the Indian, when we really need it.  Having some problems with the video system, which isn't working now.  Think it comes from when we removing the mast and restepping it back in Les Sables. I hope to be able to see what's wrong. There's also something with the camera,as the battery charger has a bug. I'll sort it later on and hope to be taking pictures and filming as soon s possible.
Enjoy the rest of the night.»

 

Message received from Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia, 18th) at 1h00 this morning:
«Going through the islands in about an hour from now. Lots of waves up to fifteen miles upwind of the islands. It's strange, as I hadn't noticed it, but it's warm.  You imagine that it's going to be sunny  all day long and ideal for sunbathing, but in fact, it's not at all like that.  It's cloudy throughout the day, but for two days now the skies have cleared at night, which has allowed me to appreciate my mentor, Orion the hunter, who's looking down on me. He may be a hunter, but he doesn't have a gun or sword.  The close combat stuff with a sword is for later, I hope..."

 

Almost tying for fifth place with Yann Eliès (Générali) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air), also 61 miles from the leader, Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty), Vincent Riou (PRB) talked to his shore team today. «The good news is the bunching up of the leaders in the fleet. As far as the Doldrums are concerned, it's too early to draw any conclusions.  As always, it's going to be a game of poker.  The only rational analysis you can make about this zone is to say that by being out to the west, you run fewer risks. But for everything else, it's largely down to luck.» Vincent Riou (PRB)

 

Dominique Wavre is currently in 13th place, 223 miles from the leader and like all those around him is trying to figure out how best to approach the Doldrums.

"I hope things will go well for me and that the deficit on the leaders will be minimal when I get into the South Atlantic, but I can only guess what’s going to happen. For the time being I’m also telling myself that I should make the most of the present moment, the enjoyment of being at sea on a fine boat which makes good headway. If I get obsessed about the deficit I have on the frontrunner then that's likely to dampen my enjoyment a bit. And the better you feel at sea, the better your performance."   Dominique Wavre (Temenos)

 

"I might have a go at cutting my hair later, I look like a mop. I didn't get chance to have it done properly before I left. I'm not too worried about the outcome.  It's got three months to grow back if I make a mess of it, which I'm sure I will. If you see me wearing a hat in any video footage you'll know why!"   Steve White (Toe in the Water)

 - Over 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) covered the greatest distance towards the finish, 256.7 miles (averaging 10.7 knots)

- Yann Eliès (Generali) and Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) both climbed two places in 24h, moving from eighth to sixth in the case of Eliès, and from thirtenth to eleventh in the case of Boissières.