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Worst Of The Storm Passed for RUYANT and DALIN, Golden Ticket for Armel TRIPON. BEYOU Making Inroads. For the meantime the worst of the Indian Ocean is behind them and Vendée Globe leaders Charlie DALIN and Thomas RUYANT can contemplate a relatively smooth ride to Australia's Cape LEEUWIN, now 1250 nautical miles, or about three days, ahead of DALIN.

After race leader for more than three weeks Charlie DALIN reported damage to his port foil system on APIVIA yesterday evening and has been slowed to less than 6 kts dealing with the issue as best he can it is Thomas RUYANT who the Vendée Globe standings this morning. But while all three leaders, RUYANT (LinkedOut) Yannick BESTAVEN (Maitre Coq), and DALIN (APIVIA) were within ten miles of each other this morning on the early rankings it was RUYANT who has been going fastest and looking set to capitalise when he resumed the lead he last held on 21st November.

The number of Vendee Globe skippers now in the Indian Ocean grew to nine overnight as French sailors Thomas RUYANT and Jean LE CAM passed the Cape of Good Hope. Race first-timer RUYANT, skipper of Le Souffle du Nord pour le Projet Imagine, and veteran LE CAM on Finistère Mer Vent, were just under four hours apart from one another passing the magical longitude of 018°29.85'E.

Time to make hay for DALIN, RUYANT and BESTAVEN....Nine cross LEEUWIN within 24 hours of DALIN. Race midpoint beckons. The three leaders of the Vendée Globe, Charlie DALIN, Thomas RUYANT and Yannick BESTAVEN now have the potential to open up a meaningful distance on the group which has been chasing them hard as the top trio benefit from fast sailing conditions on the back of a low pressure system.

Modest speeds for Vendée Globe leaders... BESTAVEN holds third... STAMM talks of Pip HARE's Superbigou The Vendée Globe's leading duo Charlie DALIN and Thomas RUYANT are into a period of quieter winds as they recover from the big Indian Ocean storm which hit them on Tuesday night with gusts to 55 knots of wind and big seas.

After Thomas RUYANT suffered water ingress into his bow compartment and had to stop LinkedOut yesterday night (French time, Thursday morning local time) Yannick BESTAVEN now has a clear lead on Maître Coq IV as the leaders passed under Tasmania and across what is generally considered to be the western boundary of the Pacific Ocean.

Alors que débute la 5e semaine de ce Vendée Globe, les défis qui s'annoncent sont nombreux. En tête de course, Charlie DALIN (Apivia) et Thomas RUYANT (LinkedOut​) doivent décider de leur stratégie avant d'affronter un front conséquent à partir de demain. D'autres, comme Louis BURTON, sont déjà face à un autre front ce lundi matin. Loin de là, quatre skippers ont passé le cap de Bonne-Espérance hier et savent que la suite s'annonce particulièrement corsée.

The three Vendée Globe leaders have the foot hard down on the accelerator, racing behind this low pressure system and so making good speeds and opening up the gap back to the chasing peloton which is now more than 200 miles behind. Charlie DALIN is doing his best to contain the highly motivated Thomas RUYANT who works constantly to find best speeds from his compromised IMOCA which lacks most of its port foil and Yannick BESTAVEN remains super quick. And now seven IMOCA's have crossed the longitude of Cape LEEUWIN, young Ben DUTREUX - the rookie from the Vendée region - is very happy to have crossed fourth.

Racing in 25 knots of wind at 53 degrees south, life is distinctly chilly for Thomas RUYANT and Yannick BESTAVEN, the top two Vendée Globe skippers who are less than ten miles apart. They both gybed early this morning and are heading fully east running parallel to the exclusion barrier, for the Pacific where they are hoping the sea state will be easier and more conducive to higher average speeds than the Indian Ocean has been.

In the teeth of the biggest depression seen during this Vendée Globe race leader Charlie DALIN has had a tough night but reported briefly to his team that all is well on board Apivia. In a few more hours he should be through the worst of the storm which was forecasted to bring 45 knot mean windspeeds and 50-55kts in the gusts.