Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) took over the lead in the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe on Tuesday. At the 7:00 a.m. check-in (GMT+1), he had passed Charlie Dalin (Macif Santé Prévoyance) who had been leading since December 2.
Richomme had been heading towards Dalin for several days at the start of the crossing of the Pacific Ocean and he was almost eight nautical miles ahead of his competitor at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Third, Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) was sailing 48 miles from the lead.
Dalin had moved to the head of the fleet on December 2 and was initially threatened by Simon, while Richomme was relegated more than 500 miles to the southern storm.
But in recent days, Richomme showed a significantly higher average speed and returned to second place on December 14. Still second at 03:00 on Tuesday, he was finally ahead four hours later.
Behind, Justine Mettraux is still in 11th place. On Instagram, her team announced Monday evening that the Vaudoise had reduced the sail to face a depression which should accompany her for two days.
Note that two withdrawals have been officially recorded in recent hours: the Hungarian Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe) and the British Pip Hare (Medallia).
Weöres was dead last in the race and decided to retire at the end of Monday, two days after damage occurred off the coast of South Africa. Shortly later, it was Hare who had to face the inevitable, after being dismasted on Sunday.
