After more than 25,000 miles of racing this Vendée Globe hangs in the balance.
At the head of the fleet is Charlie Dalin (Apivia) with 2694 nm to sail, with Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) 105 nm back in second battling with Damien Seguin (GROUPE APICIL) and Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2).
Dalin is racing hard on the wind, on a tighter angle, as his port side foil is compromised, but trying to be get to the Azores, to the east.
If he can he hook into the low pressure first he will accelerate to the finish.
Burton has the bow of Bureau Vallée down, powering on a more westerly slant at 18 kts trying to go faster to reach the low earlier but more to the west.
This climb up the NE’ly trades blowing at 16-18kts will take another three days.
Vendée Globe Leaders – Day 73 – Tue 19 Jan – 08:00 hrs UK
1st FRA Charlie Dalin – APIVIA – – 2694 nm to finish – sailing at 15+ knots
2nd FRA Thomas Ruyant – LinkedOut – 105 nm
3rd FRA Damien Seguin – GROUPE APICIL – 107 nm
4th FRA Louis Burton – BUREAU VALLEE 2 – 108 nm
5th FRA Boris Herrmann – SEAEXPLORER – 154 nm
6th FRA Giancarlo Pedote – PRYSMIAN GROUP – 155 nm
7th FRA Yannick Bestaven – Maître CoQ IV – 147 nm
8th FRA Benjamin DUTREUX – OMIA – WATER FAMILY – 216 nm
9th FRA Jean Le Cam – Yes we Cam! – 268 nm
10th FRA Maxime SOREL – V and B-MAYENNE – 476 nm
GBR:
17th GBR Pip Hare – Medallia – 2583 nm
22nd GBR Miranda Merron – Campagne de France – 3941 nm
Retired:
Nicolas Troussel, Alex Thomson, Kevin Escoffier, Alex Thomson, Sebastien Simon, Sam Davies, Fabrice Amedo, Isabelle Joschke, Sébastien Destremau
