Jean Le Cam, dean of the fleet, takes the lead of the race… Follow the position of the skippers live

Aboard a drift boat (slower than the foils), the 65-year-old sailor negotiated the last hours well to take the lead in the provisional ranking on Saturday.

A great operation for “King John”. While the fleet tightened in the last hours, Jean Le Cam (Everything begins in Finistère – Armor-Lux), dean of this 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, took first place in the provisional ranking on Saturday November 16 in the morning. Aboard his drift boat, Jean Le Cam chose, after passing the island of Madeira, an option further east than the rest of the fleet. A profitable choice which allows him on Saturday to go ahead and take a 28.30 mile lead over the Italian Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian), previous leader.

Behind them, Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – Duo for a job) is at the forefront and is third, only 38.47 miles behind Le Cam. The British Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable), second on Friday evening, is now only sixth, while the leading skippers are heading towards Cape Verde.

Since Friday, the “light weather” (the absence of wind) joined the party, and slowed down the boats, looking for the slightest gust. Charlie Dalin (Macif), who fell in the rankings (25th), has also mentioned it in recent hours. “The challenge is to get out of this area quickly, it’s really soft, so I hope it will start soon, on our side compared to the others, not on the South-East side! It’s tight in the fleet, I have Thomas (Ruyant) who is playing not far away, I am side to side with Jérémie (Beyou) and Louis (Burton), Yoann (Richomme) is right next to it too, we are trying to extricate ourselves”, testified the skipper. If the lack of wind bogged down a good part of the fleet, it nevertheless succeeded in others, like Manuel Cousin (Coup de Pouce, 33rd), who signed the greatest distance covered in 24 hours, or Damien Seguin (Apicil, 5th), who came back to the level of Clarisse Crémer (L’Occitane en Provence, 10th).