Vendée Globe

After being caught by the two fronts on the northern edge of the Azores high, Foncia is still sailing in a westerly airstream. Gradually over the next few days this flow will back SW’ly Therefore the lows will not be reaching the Bay of Biscay but instead heading up to the British Isles after deepening between the Azores and Madeira. This change in the weather will occur this weekend leading to less favourable conditions as the wind shifts to the north-east for the arrival of the first two or three competitors.
Veolia will face an additional difficulty before thinking of the finish. As Roland Jourdain gets away from the first high thanks to a front arriving from the north-west, he will need to keep an eye on the Bermuda high, which is moving over the Azores in the coming days. It is this new high that Brit Air will face before Saturday.
Further south, Roxy and Safran are struggling with a line of squalls to the south of the Doldrums, which are now over the Equator. Pindar and Aviva will be facing the same phenomena in the next 36 hours.
Akena will have to get away from the thundery lows before sailing in the light easterly trade winds. Toe in the Water should get away from the high that developed over Uruguay before benefiting from strong easterlies tonight. Great American III will be feeling the effects of a cold front with fairly strong northerlies, rather like Toe in the Water has experienced several times in the past week.
For the two boats still in the Pacific, there are winds shifting regularly from the NW to SW accompanying them all the way to the Horn.
Sylvain Mondon
Météo-France