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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.

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 !

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.

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.

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.

DALIN Leads Across Cape LEEUWIN then hits 24kts, Three leaders pass within 3 hours and 20 minutes. PEYRON Pays Tributes to JOSCHKE, LE CAM, SEGUIN, Redress for HERMANN, LE CAM, BESTAVEN to be published Wednesday.

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.

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.

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.

With no working computers Fabrice AMEDEO Abandons, DALIN's margin is halved, MERRON, SHIRAISHI Cross Good Hope.

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.

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.

British skipper Sam DAVIES informed her team that her IMOCA Initiatives Coeur had struck a floating object at around 1900hrs UTC this evening. She is heading north at reduced speed and will inspect her boat to assess the damage and discuss actions with her team. Sam DAVIES is unhurt.