Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) currently in the lead, 9558.6 miles from the finish, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish. Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 398.6 miles

After retiring from the race on 7th December, Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia) is continuing to head up the Atlantic and is currently sailing off the Canaries. He now intends to stop in Cascaïs in Portugal on 2nd January to spend a few days there, which will allow him to get some more fuel, rest and study the weather before heading up the coast of Spain into the Bay of Biscay. His goal is still to sail all the way home to Bilbao, which he should reach in the first half of January.
 

"I have just notified the race committee that I must officially retire from the Vendee Globe 2008/09. After the knock down and damage to the mast I continued to look for solutions to fix the broken spreaders while the mast is still standing. After considering all the options we have concluded that it is not possible to make a repair without outside assistance, which is not allowed in this race. I was hoping I would wake up and it was all a bad dream. It's time to move on with a plan to move forward. We have accomplished so much; building the IMOCA 60 in Canada, preparing and qualifying for the hardest race in the world and unfortunately being knocked out indiscriminately like so many others, among them some of the elite single-handed sailors in the world. At first I was devastated, not for me, but for those individuals and corporate sponsors that have helped us get this far. But in the last few days, their words to me of encouragement have shown me that we have nothing to be ashamed about; that we tried our best and played well. I'm not sure if we made a difference or not but I think you will agree that this type of event truly captures the imagination of the world. These thoughts have turned it around for me and now I'm ready to move forward. The immediate plan is to take the boat to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It's just under 900 miles away and it will take me about 8 more days to reach port. If the mast is still standing when I get there, we will be able to remove it from the boat and fix the spreaders and the mast will be whole again. We have been in contact with other teams and preparing ourselves to ship Spirit of Canada home, saving all the wear and tear on the boat and crew. Once back in the northern hemisphere, we can refurbish the boat and prepare it for what's next."

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada)
 

At 1527hrs GMT it was confirmed that Derek Hatfield's retirement from the sixth Vendee Globe has been received. Hatfield said:

" I have now considered all of the options for our continuing and have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to do so without assistance to help with the mast. I therefore must resign from the race effective immediately. I will continue to Australia and consider how we will repatriate the boat back to France."

At 14h01 today, The Vendée Globe Race Directors received an e-mail from the team director, Mark Turner officially declaring that Sébastien Josse was retiring from the race. He becomes the thirteenth competitor to retire since the start. Sébastien Josse decided on Monday morning to head for Auckland (New Zealand) because of his damaged rudder (see photo).
 

Currently  aboard the Marion Dufresne, Bernard Stamm is due to reach Reunion Island tomorrow with his Cheminées Poujoulat, which is also aboard the supply vessel.
"Since leaving the Kerguelen Islands with the Marion Dufresne, things have gradually calmed down. I’m getting my spirits up a little and I can start thinking and functioning again by looking a bit further ahead than the few minutes which follow each event. The boat has to be assessed and I’m going to analyse her as fully as I can, so I can learn as much as possible about what happened before, during and after racing. I was incredibly lucky that the Marion Dufresne was in the Kerguelen Islands when I arrived. Without that the boat would have been matchsticks. We don’t yet know if the boat can be repaired or not. We’re going to examine the boat and only after this will I be able to clarify what the next few months will involve."