And breathe...

Now there are still 11 solo skippers climbing the Atlantic heading for Les Sables d’Olonne. Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com) should be next in on Thursday or Friday, before the quartet led by Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG Mori Global One) which should arrive over the weekend.  

Belgium’s Denis Van Weynbergh (D’Ieteren Group) at the back of the fleet could complete his round the world race at the end of the month. All are still pushing hard, fighting for every mile northwards, dealing with the gnawing fatigue but looking forwards to breaking the finish line whenever that will be. 

Guirec Soudée, more adventures

Guirec Soudée should be next to finish but the skipper of Freelance.com, who was neck and neck with Conrad Colman in the South Atlantic for a while has had sail problems. Yesterday, his Jib Top fell into the water as the hook system broke. 
"I got it back but I no longer have a spinnaker halyard and the Fr0 is all messed up at the front," he reveals. "I'm being slowed a bit!" Soudée has to be patient in the light winds of the Azores high pressure. He has no sweet food or breakfasts left,

Four in a row

Six hundred miles south there are fourskippers passing west of the Azores. The group is led by Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG Mori Global One, 24th) who is heading for his second consecutive finish and will want to finish inside the 94 days it took him on the last race, so he has six days. He leads Violette Dorange (Devenir, 25th), Louis Duc (Fives Group Lantana Environnement, 26th) and Sébastien Marsset (Foussier, 27th). 

Koji reports this morning, 

According to Christian Dumard, Vendée Globe weather consultant, the rest of the race looks set to be quite challenging with “lots of transitions to follow”. Such conditions that could delay their finishes a little at the end of the weekend or the beginning of next week. 

Violette Dorange assures us that she is doing everything she can to stay focused on the race:

Dorange laments the withdrawal of Arnaud Boissières who was alongside her for so long, "He's someone who always takes care of his boats, I was very sad for him I think about him a lot." 

'Cali' continues to move towards the West: he is now just over 800 miles from the West Indies which he hopes to reach quickly.
Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier, 28th) is still working out his routing West or East of the Azores. Out of the race, Éric Bellion (Stand As One) should pass to the South of the depression that is deepening on his route. 

Oliver Heer (Tut Gut., 30th) and Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou, 31st) crossed the equator on Sunday They are currently making hard progress in trade winds of "20 to 25 knots" according to Christian Dumard.

In addition, three other skippers are continuing the long climb in the South Atlantic. They are Manuel Cousin (Coup de Pouce, 32nd), Fabrice Amedeo (Nexans Wewise, 33rd) and Denis Van Weynbergh (D’Ieteren Group, 34th). Since Cape Horn, they have been making progress close-hauled.