Alex Thomson was only 67 nautical miles behind the Vendée leader Armel Le Cléac'h on Sunday evening. At 19 knots, the Briton was travelling significantly faster than the Breton on "Banque Populaire VIII" at 13 knots. With his impressive intermediate sprint, the "Hugo Boss" skipper has halved his deficit to the two-time Vendée runner-up Le Cléac'h within 24 hours. At the same time, a duel for third place developed behind the two leading boats, as Jérémie Beyou and his "Maitre Coq" were only a good 100 nautical miles behind third-placed Paul Meilhat on "SMA" in the evening. For the two pursuers, the third Sunday in Advent and the 35th day at sea marked the halfway point in their race around the world.
A low-pressure area had forced Armel Le Cléac'h to gybe and change course to the north-east. On this return to the course that Alex Thomson was sailing, the Frenchman lost some of his hard-earned lead. For Thomson, however, this was no cause for celebration. After two brutal days in the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean, the Englishman sees no reason for premature feelings of happiness: "We'll have to wait and see what the situation is like after this second depression has passed. Armel is sailing a little further east than me. So he should be able to tick off the low faster than me. But then, like me, he will be held up in the centre by light winds. It will depend on the wind angle when we get out of there. I think it's irrelevant where we are at the moment. We have to look ahead."
The video is titled "Day 36", but it has only just begun. A summary of the Vendée at the beginning of the fifth week at sea
More than 1,300 nautical miles behind the front runners, Paul Meilhat and Jérémie Beyou celebrated their mountain festival about 100 nautical miles apart, while Jean-Pierre Dick ("St. Michel-Virbac") and Jean Le Cam ("Finistère Mer Vent") passed Cape Leeuwin. Astonishingly, although he only reached Cape Leeuwin in eighth place, Le Cam was still three hours faster than the last outstanding Vendée winner François Gabart with a time of 34 days, 7 hours and 8 minutes.
The best words on Advent Sunday came from Alex Roura, who is in 16th place with his "La Fabrique": "I'm in seventh heaven! I'm sailing with a group of talented sailors and it's going really well! The Indian Ocean is a bit tough, a bit temperamental, and you have to learn to understand it and play with it. That's what I expected. Nothing has changed on board. It's still the same as when I started, and that's the goal I set myself. There are several races in this race: Between the front runners, the old against the young. It's incredible! The skippers choose different strategic options. It all leads to an incredible race."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
