Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) sent this message to his shore team this morning:
"The wind shifted earlier for Loïck and Sébastien. They accelerated before me.  I think now I have the same wind as them and am picking up speed.  Further to the west, Golding is sailing very quickly.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on the English fireman.
Today I have a lot of strategy to work on. I'm going to be spending a lot of time at my chart table studying the weather. Things can change quickly, but none of the weather models seem to agree.  There is a huge high blocking our route, so we're going to have to watch that. The route we decide on is a gamble about the future.  Everyone is heading south. There are no other options for the moment as the situation is not clear.  Apart from that, everything is fine on board: I got some rest to deal with St. Helena and I'm looking after my boat before we hit the south."
 

Brian Thompson (Pindar) is currently sailing at the latitude of Bahia in 11th place, 241 miles from the leader.  After over two weeks of racing, it is clearly a pleasure to catch sight of someone else.
"Even though it's an enormous ocean I have seen other boats during the race, Ecover near Madeira, Roxy three times and this is the second time I have seen Dominic. I have talked to all 3 boats and it is great to chat just for a few minutes about the extraordinary experiences we are all having out here in the Vendee Globe.  Saw one gannet yesterday with bright red feet, a storm petrel, and several very large flying fish."  

 

Remember you can watch the highlights of the day to catch up on what has been going on in the race. Just click on the daily report video in the media section each evening.

"Hello earthlings!

Out here on the South Express road we are still careening along on a fast upwind angle. Life continues at an angle of 20 degrees.
Today I discovered that a diesel tank has sprung a little leak, so that is a repair on the job list, and luckily I still have some oil absorbing cloths to clean up with. I'm waiting until it is a little less bumpy to do the job properly!
I had a shower like the boys do this afternoon - on the bow in the spray.  Not bad - the sea is so warm - but not quite enough spray to rinse my hair off! obviously the last rinse is with a litre of fresh water, so now I am nice and clean with soft skin! I've even got clean clothes on!
This evening it was "TV dinner" - freeze dried lasagna in front of my computer screen."

Sam Davies (Roxy)

 

"More of the same sailing with big black clouds mixing it up for us. A wet and hot ride makes it difficult to dress for these conditions. Wet on deck and hot below. Lots of tweaks will keep the progress south going."

Dee Caffari (Aviva)

 

Jonny Malbon (Artemis), Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Ocean Vital) and Rich Wilson (Great American III) all crossed the Equator during the night;  Here's a short message from Rich written yesterday shortly before he reached the imaginary line.

"We thought that we'd escaped the doldrums yesterday, but that was not the case. 13 sail changes in 15 hours last night and this morning (Monday). It was beyond fatiguing trying to keep up with the squalls and light air spots, to keep the boat moving in the right direction. It was also very painful for my back and rib, but I can't stop for that. That huge black cloud up there? Will we intersect it? If yes, we better take a reef right now... if not, well then we'll risk being wrong and have to take the reef during the tumult. It's so hard to know for sure whether my sail choices are going to be the right choices. Sometimes I put a reef in, and then the squall cloud goes by without any wind at all; other times I may not put in a reef and then the wind that comes is more than we can handle. Very difficult to get it right all the time.
The good news is that I did get a snooze or two. The computer started acting up yesterday. I should have known it would happen, because it's too hot here in the cabin for it, particularly when charging the batteries with the engine. So I turned off the computer, network, monitor and inverter, to cool them down. Then I didn't fire them up again until late last night, and then only for an hour or so. It will be a little less convenient to have to turn on the computer every time I want to use it, but that choice will hopefully save the computer--and save some amperes and power on the boat, too."