Jean Le Cam is already sailing at the height of Cape Town with his "Bonduelle"
On the 19th day of the 24,000-nautical-mile one-handed regatta, the two leading Frenchmen Jean Le Cam ("Bonduelle") and Vincent Riou ("PRB") extend their lead over the pursuers. Sébastien Josse ("VMI") is now already a whole day behind.
As announced yesterday, the "rich" (Le Cam and Riou) have been able to further increase their wealth. Slipped through a weather gate the day before yesterday, they were able to cover around 250 nautical miles within 24 hours. On the other hand, it looks completely different with the three next-placed skippers. Roland Jourdain, in fourth place, only managed 16 miles in 13 hours - frustrating!
The Briton Alex Thomson, who fled a few days ago, pressed by a light wind area, to the west, towards the Brazilian coast, apparently misjudged himself completely. The hope of encountering more wind or even current there, however, backfired. Because of his runaway, the "Hugo Boss" skipper not only lost contact with the top of the fleet, he also had to let his compatriot Mike Golding, who sails in fifth place with the "Ecover", pull away for over 200 nautical miles.
The two leaders afford a kind of match race. With only a good mile ahead of Vincent Riou, Jean Le Cam must feel very much watched. The two are only around 1,000 nautical miles from the Cape of Good Hope.
A lot of backlog - that can't shake a seaman: Sedlacek takes it calmly
At more than 2,000 nautical miles, the only German-speaking sailor in the field, the Austrian Norbert Sedlacek, has grown behind the leadership duo. The 42-year-old is now sailing his own race at the end of the fleet. He is now around 800 miles short of the French woman Karen Leibovici, who is lying in front of him. However, this residue cannot tarnish the mood of the Austrian, as is shown by a photo that shows him headed over a bottle of red wine on the occasion of his crossing of the equator.
Ranking on Friday morning at 10 a.m.:
1. Bonduelle, Jean Le Cam, 33 ° 24 'S, 15 ° 39' W, nautical miles to destination: 18,755.4 2. PRB, Vincent Riou, nautical miles to leader: 1.33. VMI, Sébastien Josse, SzF: 259.94. Sill et Véolia, Roland Jourdain, SzF: 269.55. Ecover, Mike Golding, SzF: 332.96. Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson, SzF: 536.07. Hellomoto, Conrad Humphreys, SzF: 581.58. Virbac-Paprec, Jean-Pierre Dick, SzF: 608.99. Temenos, Dominique Wavre, SzF: 627.010. Arcelor Dunkerque, Joé Seeten, 629.711. Pro-Form, Marc Thiercelin, SzF: 631.912. Skandia, Nick Moloney, SzF: 650.513. UUDS, Hervé Laurent, SzF: 681.714. VM Matériaux, Patrice Carpentier, SzF: 703.815. Ocean Planet, Bruce Schwab, SzF: 862.916. AkenVérandas, Raphaël Dinelli, SzF: 1,012.417. Roxy, Anne Liardet, SzF: 1,132.018. Max Havelaar / Best Western, Benoît Parnaudeau, SzF: 1,208.619. Benefic, Karen Leibovici, SzF: 1,231.920. Brother, Norbert Sedlacek, SzF: 2.0332.8