New York Vendée: Days of Thunder - Now comes the payback moment for Boris Herrmann

The ranking didn't have to be taken too seriously this morning. The skipper of the "Malizia Seaexplorer" was in 11th place, just 4.2 nautical miles ahead of the youngest in the field, Violette Dorange on "Devenir". It was a snapshot that was already overtaken an hour later - and which will be subject to further changes over the course of the day.

Now that Boris is sailing in a fresh breeze north of the high pressure area, he can make up a lot of ground, especially on the group to the south, which has been making very rapid progress recently and is still led by Thomas Ruyant on "Vulnerable".

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She had benefited from almost perfect reaching conditions - with speeds of around 20 knots in blue skies and deep blue seas, interspersed only with the streaks of foam that her foilers leave behind for a short time.

Today, however, the nine skippers, who have now split into three sub-groups, are heading southeast of the Azores, higher into the wind. In the early afternoon, the first four have to deal with the edge of a small low-pressure vortex, which is definitely not going to be fun. Pierre Hays, part of the race committee of the New York Vendée, speaks of "boat-breaking conditions" - conditions that could lead to breakage and cancellations.

For the skippers in the south of the New York Vendée, the speed rush will soon be over

Above all, they will slow down progress. There's no way we can go much faster than 15 knots, if anything less. Because you mustn't forget: the Imocas are tired after a week of wildly oscillating winds and hard squalls, and so are the sailors. A single moment of carelessness, a particularly steep wave - and the race can be over, or at least the prospect of a podium place. And it's not the only low point that has to be overcome. Another test awaits at Cape Finisterre before Les Sables.

In contrast, Charlie Dalin, who passed the 1000-mile mark last night, doesn't have a ride ahead of him either, but a far less demanding course to the finish. He is not expected there until Saturday evening at the earliest, or perhaps not until Sunday.

Christian Dumard, one of the best weather routers in the world, sees him as the winner of the New York Vendée. This is shown by his latest calculations. Dalin still has one or two days of upwind conditions, which makes him sail slower than Boris in the north. But then the wind will shift to the left, which will also accelerate the "Macif" skipper to 20 knots and more - with a shorter route to Les Sables d'Olonne.

Boris Herrmann must fight if he wants to keep his chance of winning

Boris also seems to be a bit set on second place, as he said in a video. But for the time being, he wants to keep things exciting and will leave no stone unturned in his quest for his first major victory in the Imoca class.

Will Harris, his co-skipper, still saw him in front yesterday morning. He gave a vivid interpretation of the weather conditions and the rest of the race on Team Malizia's YouTube channel: