During the night, the two skippers left the third, Yoan Richomme, behind. The rest of the fleet is even further away.
A duo stands out at the head of the Vendée Globe: Tuesday morning, Charlie Dalin (Macif) was still leading the race but Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) got even closer to him, while Yoan Richomme (Paprec-Arkéa) was left behind during at night.
At 7:00 a.m., while Dalin is only 18 nautical miles ahead of Simon, Richomme, third, has lost more than 100 nautical miles on the first since Monday evening and is now 205 nautical miles behind the leader.
The three skippers have further widened the gap on the rest of the fleet
The three skippers, having chosen the southernmost route among the 15 leading sailors, have further widened the gap on the rest of the troop, since Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable), the fourth, is now at 393 miles.
Behind, there is no shortage of fierce duels: Nicolas Lunven (Holcim – PRB) and Jérémie Beyou (Charal) are almost edge to edge for fifth place. Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) temporarily supplanted Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq V) for seventh place.
Tenth, Justine Mettraux (Teamwork-Team Snef) once again took the place of first sailor during the night from Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Coeur). But the arrival of two southern depressions could well reshuffle the cards.
Since Sunday, the heading towards the East, more risky in theory, has been very successful for Dalin and Simon, but the two men were heading towards the North-East on Tuesday morning.
Better sailing conditions from Thursday
Lunven, currently 584 miles from the lead, was the first to choose this orientation. “There is a depression which is arriving from behind, from the West, which will catch up with us and sweep away the entire Kerguelen area”he explained to the organization.
“If you find yourself trapped just in front of the center of the depression, or worse in the south of the center, you find yourself tacking, in 30-40 knots, and especially behind the center of the depression it deepens very strongly and there has winds up to 50-60 knots. And it raises an obviously nice sea, so things in which I don’t necessarily want to go sailing!”warned the Vannes resident.
Like him, Richomme and Ruyant also made this bet, initially slower, hoping to sail in better conditions from Thursday while further preserving their boat.
“Thomas Rettant didn’t manage to catch the lead, he’s a little stuck in the slack, and he’s heading north, I have the impression that he’s trying to come back towards us. In any case, I preferred to make this choice early”summarized Lunven.
Vendée Globe rankings Tuesday at 7:00 a.m.
1. Charlie Dalin (Macif Santé Prévoyance) 15,937.68 nautical miles from the finish
2. Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) at 18.80 nautical miles
3. Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) at 205.47 mins
4. Thomas Rettant (Vulnerable) at 393.28 mins
5. Nicolas Lunven (Holcim – PRB) at 584.87 nm
6. Jérémie Beyou (Charal) at 585.26 mins
7. Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) at 759.19 mins
8. Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq V) at 780.77 minutes
9. Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) at 811.35 mins
10. Justine Mettraux (Teamwork-Team Snef) at 1,224.61 mins…
39. Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe) à 4,229.59 mn
Abandonment: Maxime Sorel (V and B-Monbana-Mayenne)
