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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.

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.

The team at ARKEA PAPREC and French skipper Sébastien SIMON have confirmed he has abandoned his Vendée Globe. Last Wednesday morning at 0820hrs UTC his IMOCA hit a floating object and badly damaged his starboard foil and its housing. The boat has had a steady ingress of water which SIMON has largely dealt with. But with repairs seeming to be extremely complicated and probably requiring the foil to be cut into pieces, Simon and his team made the tough decision that he will give up. SIMON is on his way to Cape Town. He should reach the South African bay overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

Persistent light winds in the middle of the Pacific, nearly half way between New Zealand and Cape Horn means the chasing pack, led by rookie Paul MEILHAT (SMA), are slashing their distance to the two Vendée Globe leaders Alex THOMSON (Hugo BOSS) and Armel LE CLEAC'H (Banque Populaire VIII).

Just a month after the start of the Vendée Globe, on 6th December in the middle of the Indian Ocean to the north of the CROZET Islands, Kito DE PAVANT and his Bastide Otio hit an unidentified floating object. The damage was fatal for the boat and the skipper was forced to abandon the race and his monohull.... Fortunately, the French vessel, the MARION-DUFRESNE, which delivers supplies to the French islands in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, was sailing close to the area when the incident happened. Kito was rescued and taken aboard the ship, which continued her delivery trip. A few months later, they were able to watch the videos recorded on the hard disk aboard the boat, and discovered that the unidentified object was in fact a sperm whale, which was clearly visible in the wake of the boat. You can watch the video here. Hang on tight!

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.

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.

The next 24 hours will be the most challenging so far for Vendée Globe race leader Charlie DALIN (Apivia), especially through this evening and tonight as he will pass as close as he dare to the centre of a Southern Ocean low pressure system which is forecast to bring him gusts over 55kts and big seas. He told his team yesterday 'this is the biggest, most powerful storm I have had through since the start'. So today will mostly be about pushing on and preparing himself and his Apivia.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The International Jury of the 2020 Vendée Globe have published their decisions for time compensations awarded to three of the four skippers who were involved in the rescue operation for Kevin ESCOFFIER during the period late afternoon and overnight Monday, November 30 when the skipper had to abandon his boat some 850 miles SW of Cape Town.

Following a violent collision last Wednesday evening, British Vendee Globe skipper Sam DAVIES (Initiatives-Cœur) sustained significant damage to the framework supporting the keel of her IMOCA. In consultation with her team, she made the decision to stop in Cape Town (South Africa).This morning as she arrived in Cape Town she confirmed by video at 0900hrs UTC that she is officially retiring from the race. But she says she is determined to return - after making repairs with her team and experts - to complete the race course as 'hors course', unclassified on the solo race which forbids any kind of outside assistance.

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.

The three skippers in the Vendee Globe solo round the world race who are having to avoid the worst of the violent Southern Ocean storm all are deploying different strategies. Two, Jean LE CAM in eighth and seventh placed Jean-Pierre DICK are headed in different directions as they outrun the worst of the winds nearest the centre of the low, while Yann ELIES in sixth has hove to and slowed right down - to just two or three knots at times - to hold a position which should ensure the strongest winds pass to his north.

Having struck something in the water last night Sam DAVIES this morning is heading out of the worst of the weather and the sea state to further assess the damage to Initiatives Coeur. She spoke to Vendee Globe HQ this morning.

Alex THOMSON arrived in Cape Town, South Africa this morning and officially notified Race Direction of his abandon from the Vendee Globe. He took nearly one week for him to sail HUGO BOSS the 1800 miles to the South African haven. Thomson suffered irrepairable rudder damage which left him with no alternative but to retire.

This afternoon at 0330hrs UTC and whilst TechnoFirst-faceOcean was sailing in a strong 30 knots of wind with three reefs in the mainsail and the J3, with her skipper inside, a rogue wave put the boat on her side, mast in the water.