Yann Eliès's boat is due to be recovered in the next few days by Philippe Laot and Jean-Baptiste Epron from the Generali team. The two men are due to arrive in Australia tomorrow, where they will use a motor boat to get to the area and then sail the boat back with a short-handed crew. The 60-foot boat is currently drifting northwards, 700 miles south of the coast of Australia. She still has the same sails up (three reefs in the mainsail and staysail) and is equipped with two beacons indicating her position.
 

On 12th December, the race committee was informed by the Race Directors that Fondation Océan Vital had not passed the Atlantic Gate as laid down in Race Instructions. On 10th December, the boat approached the line to around 10 nautical miles before moving away again. Informed by the race committee, the skipper firstly declared he believed he had crossed the line, but was later to recognise that due to a software problem, that may not have been the case. The Jury today concluded that Fondation Océan Vital had not left the gate to starboard and although there was no intent to deceive, Raphaël Dinelli has broken article 3 of the Notice of Race as modified by the rider 4, and appendix 3a of the Race Instructions. He is therefore being given a time penalty of five hours that he will have to carry out according to 26.4 (h) of Race Instructions and before reaching 20°S in the Atlantic.

Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) sailed the greatest distance towards the finish. Between 19h yesterday and this evening, the leader, currently 11785.5 miles from the finish, covered 375.9 miles.

"As you know I am now sailing with the starboard rudder down (the one that was damaged last week following a collision with a UFO)! The operation appears to have been successful, although we mustn't count our blessings too quickly. The use of the system needs to be tested, in particular the top attachment and I'm going to have to get used to it. Lots of ropes were attached to deal with this and the work was very tricky. So now I'm setting off again watching how I sail and paying attention to the speed, while at the same time knowing I will have to ease off if necessary not to break something. I'm gradually stepping up the speed to allow me to get back in the race and move up the rankings if possible. It's hard knowing I gave up the lead because of such an incident, and had to suffer after doing so well. But that's life. Tthat's sport. Now we're in another race. Let's hope that it remains a pleasure! "
Jean-Pierre Dick in an e-mail sent this afternoon
 

252,000 players are currently sailing around the world based on the real sea and wind conditions.  Just as in the real Vendée Globe, the Virtual Regatta skippers are having to deal with similar worries to those that the Vendée Globe skippers are experiencing: sail changes, sleep management, strategic planning, race tactics, etc.
As more than 252,000 players have registered this year for the virtual round the world race, it is becoming a real addiction, as if you want to have any hope of moving up the rankings, you need to keep a permanent eye on the boat's progress, watch out for wind shifts to find the best trajectory and draw up the finest strategy.
Sébastien Destremau, a skipper in the real world is taking part alongside many other skippers in this virtual round the world voyage. Here are his comments: "Having gone through a few emotional moments, I am now comfortably installed in the warm in front of my computer analysing the weather situation in the virtual Vendée Globe.  When I look at the charts, I can imagine the scene. Around me, there is this hostile wilderness, where everything is grey. Sitting curled up in our armchairs, we find ourselves where our boat has taken us after a few harmless clicks on the mouse.  It doesn't take long to see that the race leaders have got a long way ahead and it's going to be long, hard and tricky, if we want to catch them."

 

"During the night, my solent ripped in several places, in particular on the leech.  I managed more or less to furl it.  Am going to have to sail halfway around the world without it.  This is a relatively serious handicap, which will limit me.  It tore without warning.  Not a nice thing to happen and a little bit upsetting.  The only good thing is I managed to furl it without any problems."
Arnaud Boissières (Akéna Vérandas)