new runner-up, Yoann Richomme pushes to get back on Charlie Dalin… Follow the position of the boats live

The Varois passed Sébastien Simon on Saturday at 7 a.m. He is the skipper in the top 10 who has covered the most distance in the last 24 hours.

Orphaned from his starboard foil for a week, Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil), who had occupied second place since December, had to give up his place as runner-up to Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa), Saturday December 14. The novice skipper on the Vendée Globe began a crossing of the Pacific at high speed, taking more than 60 nautical miles (nm) from Charlie Dalin (Macif Santé Prévoyance) to establish himself less than 200 nm from the leader at 7 hours .

The three navigators are, for the moment, the only ones to have entered the Pacific after passing the south of Tasmania. They moved away – at least temporarily – from the Antarctic exclusion zone (AEZ), prohibited due to the presence of icebergs, heading towards the south of New Zealand. Behind, the rest of the top 10 remains unchanged and clings to the leading pace, but a new “backbone”, a transition zone between two low pressure systems, could slow them down and regroup the boats between Thomas Ruyant (4th) and Clarisse Crémer ( 13th).

“My objective, above all, is to get out of the South Seas without taking any risks, without breaking anything so as not to degrade my performance. More than the backbone, it is the management of the depression in the south of New Zealand who will chase us next is what matters to me most at the moment, it’s the next obstacle to face.”explains Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable), current 7th in the fleet, on the organization’s website. The road is still long but the leading men are already on the way back with more miles covered than they have left to go.