Paul Meilhat leads the fleet, Charlie Dalin and Yannick Bestaven well placed

The skipper of the Imoca Biotherme is in the lead at 7 p.m. on Sunday, ahead of Violette Dorange and Olivier Herr. Charlie Dalin, second in the previous edition, is fifth.

A few hours after the big start of the Vendée Globe from Les Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée), Sunday November 10, the 40 skippers are on their way despite the light wind present at the start of the race. Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) leads the fleet ahead of Violette Dorange (Devenir, +0.24 mins) and Olivier Herr (Tut Gut, +0.55 mins).

Six hours after leaving Vendée, the gaps are still very close, with 16 skippers separated by less than three nautical miles. Charlie Dalin (Macif, + 0.89 mins), one of the main favorites, is fifth while the defending champion, Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq, + 1.57 mins) is 7th. Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitane en Provence, +2.03 min) lost several places and is in 8th place.

Among the latecomers to the start, Fabrice Amédéo (Nexans-Wewise, +4.16 mins) is 25th, just ahead of Jérémie Beyou (Charal, +4.42 mins), in 29th place. Finally Boris Hermann (Malizia-Seaexplorer, +8.99 mins), 5th in the last edition, is relegated to the penultimate provisional position, in 39th place.

If no delay is detrimental after a few hours of racing, the first gaps are widening, as the fleet approaches the Bay of Biscay then Cape Finisterre in the far west of Spain, Monday midday. The wind should rise, with gusts of more than 40 knots expected. “The wind will gradually strengthen. Il will first be from the West then from the South with several shifts”, says Christian Dumard, weather consultant for the Vendée Globe.