Charlie Dalin new leader, in a tight spot with Thomas Rettant… Follow the position of the skippers live

The skipper of Macif took advantage of a better wind angle than his rival to regain the lead in the provisional ranking on Friday.

There are now seventeen of them to have left the Doldrums, the latest being Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil), Friday November 22, at 7 a.m. The passage of this area, long awaited and feared by the sailors, has was well negotiated by Charlie Dalin (Macif), sixth the day before at the same time, and who returned to the lead on Friday, thanks to a better wind angle than these pursuers. However, the skippers remain in a tight spot with Thomas Rettant (Vulnerable), second, 3 nautical miles from the leader, and Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable), third, 6 miles.

Now the fleet is heading as quickly as possible towards Cape Frio, a promontory east of Rio, in order to recover a depression that could propel them to the Cape of Good Hope. The option could concern the ten skippers at the front and then create a significant gap with the rest of the fleet. “The first ones should reach it within 24 hours, underlines Pierre Hays to the race director. Even if it's still difficult to be sure, the top ten should be able to benefit from it.”

In the fleet, all eyes are on this weather phenomenon. “Ct's important, it's an elevator not to be missed. We all want to catch that little depression and escape with it”, recognizes Jérémie Beyou (Charal). “If we are lucky enough to catch this depression coming out of Brazil, we will be able to quickly go down towards the Cape of Good Hope, we will be catapulted to South Africa. That would allow us to cut the road and cross quickly the South Atlantic”analyzes in turn Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Cœur).

If the leaders are neck and neck at the end of the Doldrums, they have on the other hand widened the gap a little further with the rest of the fleet. There are now almost 700 miles between the head of the fleet and Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou, 38th) and more than 1,300 miles with Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe, 39th) bringing up the rear.