While the bulk of the fleet has crossed the Equator in the Vendée Globe, the positions are still tight at the front.
Almost every day there is a new leader in the Vendée Globe. If Jean Le Cam caused a sensation at the start of the week by taking the lead in the race thanks to his eastern option, it was well to the west of the Cape Verde archipelago that he had to go down. This is evidenced by the fall in the ranking of the Finisterian, falling back to twentieth place, now more than 300 miles behind the leaders. And for three days, the leaders have followed one another.
After Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) and Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable), it is Charlie Dalin's turn to sail at the head of the fleet. But the differences are still minimal. The skipper of Macif Santé Prévoyance, second in the last Vendée Globe, is only three miles ahead of Thomas Ruyant and five over Sam Goodchild. The gap could nevertheless widen slightly in the coming hours given the speed of the three boats.
The Top 10 of the Vendée Globe is held in 50 miles
More generally, after eleven days of racing, the peloton is still as grouped as ever. If the leading trio took a small lead over Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil), fourth with almost 30 miles behind Dalin, the top ten in the ranking are in fact barely more than 50 miles apart.
At the rear, Szaboles Weöres is still dead last, far from the rest of the fleet. Consequence of his stop in the Canaries to repair sails. Relegated to 1,340 miles from the leader, he also has 650 miles behind the penultimate, the Chinese Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou).
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