"Banque Populaire" has taken the lead
The many ice gates of this Vendée Globe, which are supposed to protect the participants from collisions with icebergs, have changed the character of the race. Instead of rapid sprints with the low pressure areas in the south, small-scale tactics with many changes of course and maneuvers dominated the action. In the past three days, for example, the leadership changed several times, a high pressure area with extremely little wind required difficult decisions. After heavy losses at the beginning, the path of the Frenchman Armel Le Cléac'h turned out to be the best. He opted for an early passage through the Porte Crozet Icegate and fell into the doldrums early and lost many nautical miles.
The positions at 7.00 UTC
However, he was also the first to sail south again, got more wind there and overtook four competitors in a wide arc. Most recently it was just ahead of and close to François Gabart with “Macif”, a little further north and back, with less wind, “Virbac Paprec” (87 nm), “Cheminées Poujoulat” (115 nm) and “Hugo Boss” "(132 nm). Everything is sailing almost exactly east, from the next Icegate to Porte Amsterdam.