Vendée Globe: Beyou celebrates Hoorn premiere, Thomson without weather information

Like the new world record hero Thomas Coville, will it be Jérémie Beyou's fifth attempt that brings him luck in his round-the-world endeavours? The Frenchman has already failed four times in the Vendée Globe in 2008/09 and 2012/13 as well as other record attempts. The experienced solo sailor has now passed Cape Horn for the first time on his fifth attempt. "I have sailed around the world in the Vendée Globe, the Barcelona World Race and the Jules Verne Trophy, but have never made it to Cape Horn. Now the time has come."

The Vendée Globe fleet is widely dispersed and the skippers report on their experiences in very different ways. At the head of the field, Armel Le Cléac'h has to contend with light winds

Beyou reached the infamous landmark in third place in the current eighth edition of the single-handed non-stop circumnavigation. And at 51 days, 1 hour and 42 minutes, he was also the third to beat the time of the last Vendée triumphant François Gabart from the start to the Hoorn.

Beyou is still around 800 nautical miles away from second-placed Alex Thomson on the 52nd day of the Imoca race around the world, but the weather forecast holds new opportunities for the tenacious Frenchman in the potential battle for second place. Beyou's "Maitre Coq" could make up even more ground on the leading boats, as he will probably be able to sail more westerly and thus shorten his course.

For his part, Alex Thomson on "Hugo Boss" is struggling to catch up with Armel Le Cléac'h, who is still in a commanding lead and sailing around 900 nautical miles south-east of Mar del Plata in Argentina. Thomson had recently managed to close the gap to well under 300 nautical miles. Le Cléac'h had to struggle through a blocking high, and it might not be the last thing that makes life at sea difficult for the two-time Vendée runner-up, who finally wants to win. Thomson's own bad luck is to blame for not being able to capitalise more clearly on his rival's flabby plague.

Thomson had already admitted on Tuesday morning that he was having problems downloading relevant weather data: "I've throttled back the speed a bit because it's really very windy. I'll just take it easy for a few hours. Also because I don't have much weather information." During the recent fast surfs, so much water had come over the deck that his last satellite antenna on board had hardly been able to receive anything. Thomson was unable to access the internet or make any calls.