Some try closer along Cape Finisterre, others further out at sea with an approach in the Biskay from a north-westerly direction. For Charlie Dalin ("Apivia") on Tuesday morning as the leading skipper of the "Finisterre Group" it was less than 500 nautical miles to the finish. The winner of the night in this top group was Boris Herrmann ("Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco"), who moved up to second place in tracking and thus once more fueled his fans' dreams of victory. Almost equal in the ranking, the third-placed Louis Burton - like Herrmann, 85 nautical miles behind Dalin - had the redeeming line in view from the Finisterre perspective, but recently oriented further north. About 400 nautical miles north-west of Dalin and with a gap of 297 and 343 nautical miles on the leaders, the broken chase group fought to catch up. Although Thomas Ruyant and Yannick Bestaven initially suffered losses, they hope that their investment will generate profits over the course of the day in increasing winds. This January 26th could be the day of the preliminary decision.
"Apivia" skipper Charlie Dalin continues to lead the field. But can he keep his pursuers in check until the finish line? Boris Herrmann and Yannick Bestaven's time credits endanger his hopes for victory
The positions on January 26th at 7 a.m. German time: Boris Herrmann has just moved up to second place
Thomas Ruyant
Yannick Bestaven
Towards the end of the 79th day at sea, Boris Herrmann took more miles from Louis Burton, who was just ahead of him. In the "northern group", however, Thomas Ruyant ("LinkedOut") achieved the fastest race with 411 nautical miles in 24 hours. When the 80th day at sea begins in the afternoon, the final chapter in this breathless final spurt is opened - the showdown is approaching, the intensity of the argument will only increase until the end. And this against the background that the Biskay could still come up with somewhat lighter winds when approaching the target, which could offer the pursuers opportunities to shorten their lagging behind the boats in front, which may then be slowing down.
Boris Herrmann's view on Monday afternoon was so unusual. In the meantime, his prospects have even improved …
ZDF reported on Monday about the Vendée Globe and the dwindling supplies
In France, the daily newspaper "Liberation" ran the headline on Tuesday morning: "Vendée Globe: Herrmann, the final German coup". In the home of the Vendée Globe, the "danger" has long been real that a German could stop the three-decade series of victories of the French Vendée Globe heroes and be at least good for a podium place. As a result of his involvement in the rescue operation for Kevin Escoffier, Boris Herrmann sails towards the goal on the night of November 30th to December 1st with a time credit of six hours. His pursuers Yannick Bestaven ("Maître Coq IV") in fifth and Jean Le Cam ("Yes We Cam") in eighth are allowed to finish 10 hours, 15 minutes (Bestaven) and even 16 hours, 15 minutes (Le Cam) deduct from your total sailing time. Fans can now see this in the Vendée Globe app and in the position reports on the homepage when they switch from the tracking mode icon to the placement mode (small podium) on the left-hand side of the map. If you click on the skipper sailing with time credit, the message appears. The times are only subtracted after the finish line. Also good to know: as soon as the leading boat is only 200 nautical miles from the finish line, the position reports on the Vendée Globe homepage are updated every 30 minutes. If the front runner is only 60 nautical miles away from the line, updates come every five minutes.
The race management has meanwhile extended the finish line from 0.3 to 1.9 nautical miles, thus countering the possibility of several boats crossing the finish line at the same time in accordance with Article 9.1 in the sailing instructions. According to the latest forecasts, the first Imocas are expected at the finish in front of Les Sables-d'Olonne from Wednesday afternoon. After various routings and calculations, the battle for victory could still lead to an arithmetic duel between Boris Herrmann and Yannick Bestaven, whose time credits at the finish will weigh heavily.
Boris Herrmann said in the final phase: "I'm in black and white mode, vacillating between putting myself under pressure and enjoying it. All my friends and my wife tell me that I can't get the pressure to myself That everything is fine. It was an unbelievable race, and I should just do my best and enjoy it. Then we'll see … "The fans will also see, because the NDR will broadcast the finale with presenter Peter Carstens and co- Commentator Tim Kröger live. It can be seen online here at YACHT - see also our teaser! We will inform you about the exact times on Wednesday morning.
He has passed the three capes, the goal is the Japanese Kojiro Shiraishi on "DMG Mori Global One" as a proud seventeenth with a lot of perseverance
Meanwhile moved up to 14th place: Jérémie Beyou on "Charal"