22:00 UTC : Sam Goodchild is leading the fleet !

Having passed west of the Canaries now the Vendée Globe leaders are set to really come into much lighter winds as they negotiate the east side of an anticyclone which will impede their course south.

Day four of the Vendée Globe solo non-stop race around the world brings another new leader. As the leaders pass the latitude of the Canary Islands, where they might normally find the trade winds blowing to carry them down towards the Cape Verdes and the Equator beyond, the breeze is lightening and…

As the Vendée Globe leaders have passed Maderia there has been a bit of a compression as the pacemakers run first into the more complicated, slower conditions while those behind them retain the breeze. Leader Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) seems to have profited and moved out to a 16 nautical miles…

The Portuguese islands of Madeira will be passed later today by the leaders of the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe but while the top boats are looking to stay clear and avoid the substantial lee of the island group, the windbreak effect of the high jagged Picos is set to be used by several…