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.
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).
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.
CAMPER have snatched the lead from Groupama and PUMA have slipped into second place as a high intensity and high stakes game of cat and mouse is unfolding as the fleet edge towards the Indian Ocean.
Tôt ce lundi, Team Sanya a constaté une avarie sur son gréement et fait route vers un port au sud de Madagascar pour évaluer les dommages et élaborer un plan de secours. Personne n'a été blessé à bord et les équipiers sont sains et saufs.
Team Sanya suffered damage to part of their rigging early on Monday and are heading to a port in southern Madagascar in order to assess the damage and make a repair plan. No one has been injured and the crew are all safe.
It is a nervous time for Team Telefónica's navigator Andrew CAPE having "rolled the dice" and laid his bet on a course that has placed his team in the lead, but also at one end of a major split in the fleet.
After a hideous night bashing across the Agulhas Current, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet has now reached a road block. It is the windless trough between the two low-pressure systems, which have threatened, but not yet evolved into one. It is now a race to get through the light and fluky airs of the trough and reach the new northerly breeze of the second front.
Nuit agitée sur l'eau, journée agitée dans la tête des navigateurs. Après un passage nocturne mouvementé à travers le courant des Aiguilles, différentes options se dessinent dans l'Indien.
It has been a case of go, stop, go, stop for the frustrated fleet overnight as all six teams race to chase down the same high speed front, but on varied courses now stretching 200 miles across the Indian Ocean.
Groupama et ses cinq concurrents se bagarrent avec un Indien compliqué : un creux barométrique leur barre le chemin. « Les routages s'affolent, » écrit ce matin Yann RIOU, l'équipier média.
Frustration is the feeling pulsing through the Volvo Ocean Race fleet this morning as the crews search desperately for a way through a weather front that currently blocks their path.
Team Telefónica snatched victory from CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand to win a thrilling first stage of Leg 2 by one minute and 57 seconds and strengthen their position at the top of the overall leaderboard.
Telefónica remporte ce soir le premier acte de l'étape entre Le Cap et Abu Dhabi. Après plus de 15 jours de course, une minute et 57 secondes le sépare seulement de CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, deuxième !
Team Telefónica and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand have mutually agreed to drop plans to lodge protest against each other following a nail-biting finish in the first stage of Leg 2.
Skipper Chris NICHOLSON paid tribute to the winners after CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand were pipped to the finish by Team Telefónica in the climax of an epic duel between the two boats.