Like many of the other competitors ahead of him in the Vendée Globe, Dominique Wavre (Temenos) passed close to the St. Peter's and St. Paul Rocks, the remains of a volcanic outcrop in the middle of the Atlantic, which he described to his shore team today. “Little islands which have appeared in the middle of nowhere. It’s hard to imagine anything more remote than that. They are very small and covered with birds. It’s somewhat illogical to imagine such wild life in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I wasn’t able to see them, as I was too far off for that."
Then, at 1225 GMT, the skipper confirmed his entry into the southern hemisphere and like those he is chasing after, he is thinking of what lies quite some distance ahead, “The future’s not straightforward. I still don’t have a very clear view of what the weather has in store for us next week, but I’m working on it at the chart table.”

 

You can see exactly what it is like to be heeled over bumping into waves in upwind conditions in the latest video from Marc Guillemot aboard Safran.  These conditions are now expected to last for at least four or five days.  Just click on videos in the media section... and tilt your head sideways.  

 

Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) is still in the lead today 20628.4 miles from the finish.
"I'm controlling the situation. I'm just managing to sail a bit more quickly than the others. That involves a lot of small details.  It's the details that count.  spend all my time adjusting things around the boat.  This is not a holiday cruise! The boats are being sailed at 100% of their capacity.  Any little pleasures?  Going outside in my birthday suit. The air is warm and the water is above 20 degrees, so it's very pleasant."  

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) currently in 25th place, 1450 miles from the leader sent this message this morning.

"The wind has come back this morning but not until after a slow frustrating afternoon yesterday. A big black localized cloud formed in front of me and I spent 6 long hours trying to get around, through, and under it with wind shifts and velocity changes by the minute. The weather here is very unsettled and I hope it clears up soon. The electrical situation is still the same and I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that we may not be able to do anything about it and that I will have to  be very conservative all the way around. "

 

Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) is in third place, 36 miles from the leader:

"I got a good rest, as the conditions are stable. The quietest trade wind in the world.  15 knots of wind and I'm advancing at 11-12 knots. I crossed the Equator at midnight precisely. Didn't see Neptune, as I was completely asleep. I went into the southern hemisphere without noticing it.  On board, we're bumping around and getting wet. I'm using the sliders to protect the cockpit. Even if the water is warm, there's no point in getting unnecessarily wet. A great innovation from the Paprec-Virbac design team. " 

 

"Just a few words to say I've seen some flying fish.  There are a lot of them, still looking just as clumsy as they take off, but are majestic as they fly.  I was worried they had disappeared. I'm just passing the final Cape Verde islands.  I had to tack away from the wind shadow of the first one, Sao Nicolau. I didn't think it was high enough to produce that effect, but as the wind was easterly, there was a calm zone that I wanted to avoid. Now I'm being slowed down a bit by the islands of Santiago and Fogo, the highest in the group. Around fifty miles from the first one, so I may slow down, but shouldn't stop. It's great seeing land and will probably be the last time I see any for some time."
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)