Perhaps it is one of the last opportunities Armel Le Cléac'h can hope for to reduce the gap to the leader, which has now grown to over 230 nautical miles. If he catches a better Doldrums passage, he could get within striking distance for the final sprint to Les Sables. François Gabart is currently around five knots slower at the top than his closest rival, but he is also likely to sail into the lighter winds soon.
Further back in the field, however, there were once again some position changes. The Brit Mike Golding ("Gamesa") mathematically passed Jean Le Cam ("Synerciel"), who has opted for a route closer to the South American mainland, while Golding is sailing further east. Both have to circumnavigate a high that blocks their direct route to the north. Golding chose the eastern route, Le Cam the western one. As a result, the Brit passed him mathematically and is now in fifth place. The tables were turned again at lunchtime today: Golding slowed down and Le Cam overtook him. However, experience shows that who is really in the lead will only become clear shortly before the Doldrums, when the yachts come together again.
Mike Golding had speculated yesterday in the video conference that Le Cam might have a problem with one of his sails because he was significantly faster, but this morning both were travelling at almost identical speeds again. Le Cam is known for his reluctance to let anyone look at his cards, he would probably hardly admit to a defect.
The gap between Britain's Alex Thomson ("Hugo Boss") and Jean-Pierre Dick ("Paprec Virbac 3") has also levelled out again. After the Frenchman fell back to fourth place at times, he regained the podium position thanks to the better wind angle and more breeze further east and has now sailed around 200 miles ahead.
Yesterday afternoon, the Spaniard Javier Sanso ("Acciona") overtook the Swiss Dominique Wavre ("Mirabaud") and is now in seventh place.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
