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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.

It's all about taking the right decisions

Abu Dhabi turn north first.

Charging through the Indian Ocean at high speed and in total darkness, nothingness ahead, nothingness around. Speed is good, sailing is sublime. And then… BANG!

Charging through the Indian Ocean at high speed and in total darkness, nothingness ahead, nothingness around. Speed is good, sailing is sublime. And then… BANG!

How Team Vestas Wind will recover their boat.

Volvo Ocean Race: Report released into Team Vestas Wind grounding.

Volvo Ocean Race: Report released into Team Vestas Wind grounding.

Conrad HUMPHREYS revient sur son démâtage.

Barcelona World Race leaders split paths.

Barcelona World Race leaders split paths.

Australian rescue authorities lead multinational mission to rescue injured Indian GGR solo sailor from dismasted yacht deep in the South Indian Ocean.

At 20:00 UTC on 26th September, Golden Globe Race HQ in Les Sables d'Olonne received a request from the manager of the 32ft sailing yacht Selene for assistance from any GGR yacht in the area because her skipper Kjell LITWIN is running out of water.

Jean-Luc VAN DEN HEEDE on course to reach Hobart film drop on Friday.

In pictures: Australian Geographic's photo prize winners.

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!

GEOMAR equips Volvo Ocean Race yacht with sensors for ocean observations.

Transat Jacques VABRE. Le bateau leader en Class40 a démâté !

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.

Over 24 hours of intense work has left the inside of Louis BURTON's IMOCA Bureau Vallée in a mess but the third placed skipper confirmed this morning that his efforts, in collaboration with his shore team, have kept him in the race. Speaking on the 0400hrs TU call this morning, after he had just gybed at the Antarctic Exclusion Zone he said, "I'm pretty burnt out and I admit that I came close to having to abandon". True to the philosophy of many competitors BURTON was not giving everything away about his problems, other than having said earlier that he had automatic pilot troubles.