Vendée Globe: Breathless in the South Atlantic - "Like a small animal at Mach 12"

It was pure frenzy overnight. And it's not over yet. The Imoca giants at the head of the field in the South Atlantic have repeatedly outdone each other with new fabulous records. With the "Cape Town Express", the leading boats are speeding south-east towards the Cape of Good Hope.

I feel like a small animal surviving in this fuselage travelling at Mach 12." Thomas Ruyant

Five soloists achieved 24-hour average speeds in excess of 23 knots: leader Charlie Dalin ("Macif Santé Prévoyance", 23.4 knots), Thomas Ruyant ("Vulnerable", 23.68 knots), Yoann Richomme ("Paprec Arkéa", 23.66 knots), Nicolas Lunven ("Holcim - PRB", 23.34 knots) and Jérémie Beyou ("Charal", 23.13 knots).

Click here to go directly to the live tracking and the interim results.

Vendée Globe speed king for the time being: Yoann Richomme

Yoann Richomme put the final exclamation mark on this muscle show in the early hours of 25 November. Richomme opened the third week of racing with a fabulous 579.86 nautical milesafter "Holcim - PRB" skipper Nicolas Lunven (554.55 miles), Charlie Dalin (558.82 miles), Thomas Ruyant (571.59 miles) and Yoann Richomme himself (574.71 miles) had all set new records in quick succession.

We are not just sailing so fast to break the record. In particular, we are trying to reach the best position for the low. We don't know what the rest will bring us, but we can keep (the speed) as long as possible." Thomas Ruyant

The soloists are also closing in on the team record for monohulls, which was officially set by "Holcim - PRB", skippered by Kevin Escoffier, with 640.48 nautical miles at an average speed of 26.68 knots in the Ocean Race. Unofficially, Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia were even faster on leg five of the Ocean Race with 641.13 nautical miles (average: 26.71 knots).

24-hour team record achievable?

However, because the difference to "Holcim - PRB" was not big enough (less than one nautical mile) according to rule 26.4 of the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSR) record regulations, the record of "Holcim - PRB" is officially in the record lists. Even though everyone knows the Malizia Etmal and the crew celebrated it at sea as enthusiastically as the fans on land.

The leading boats are currently sailing directly north of the depression, closer to its centre. They are therefore enjoying slightly more wind and flatter seas than the boats chasing them. Among the closest chasers on Monday morning were Sam Davies ("Initiatives Coeur") in tenth and Justine Mettraux ("TeamWork-Team Snef") in eleventh. The furious women had accumulated around 270 and 330 nautical miles behind the speeding spearhead of the field at the 11 o'clock update.

The top four with Dalin, Ruyant, Richomme and compatriot Sebastien Simon on "Groupe Dubreuil" were 100 nautical miles apart. The three closest pursuers - Sam Goodchild, Jérémie Beyou and Nico Lunven - were only separated by around seven nautical miles, with a gap of 118 to 125 nautical miles. Behind them, defending champion Yannick Bestaven ("Maître Coq V", 148.6 nautical miles behind) and Paul Mailhat ("Biotherm", 211 nautical miles behind) fought to keep in touch with the leading boats.

Boris Herrmann struggles to keep up

Boris Herrmann's deficit had swollen to 366 nautical miles on this Monday morning. For the moment, this confirmed the prediction of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper that his mountain of miles, which is to be shovelled away again as soon as possible, will initially grow. However, it remains unclear whether the "Cape Town" will actually continue to carry the leading boats to the Cape of Good Hope without interruption. There are also forecasts that see the front field sailing in less wind again - that would be the chance for the chasers.

Anyone watching the field in more detail in the meantime may also have seen this: The Swiss "Tut gut." skipper Oliver Heer served a two-hour penalty. He had collected this from the jury because he had taken a sail off his boat before the start of the race without prior authorisation from the race management. Olli Heer has since resumed the race. His gap to Charlie Dalin at the end of the 15th day of the 10th Vendée Globe was around 1194 nautical miles.

Boris Herrmann does not make as much progress on the edge of the wind system as the front runners - as his clip from Sunday evening shows: