Full speed west: Vincent Riou with "PRB"
On the 36th day on the high seas, the French Vincent Riou leads the fleet of 17 Vendée Globe sailors with his "PRB". His compatriot Jean Le Cam follows a good 80 nautical miles back with "Bonduelle".
Around 300 nautical miles separate Riou from the eastern length of Cape Leeuwin, the southwestern tip of Australia. From there it is another 1,500 nautical miles before he can leave the Indian Ocean in southern Tasmania. At this point the sailors have made about half of their circumnavigation.
At the moment it seems that "Vincent the Terrible" ("Vincent le Terrible", as he is called by his competitors) could even increase the lead over his toughest competitor Jean Le Cam in the next few hours. Because Riou last sailed north of Le Cam and was able to glide along in the past hours with wind from the northwest space sheets. However, Riou will have to knock down again to pass the gate at 47 degrees south that was specified by the race management.
This gate, which the skippers must pass between the 103rd and 113th longitude, was set up for two reasons. Firstly, it should prevent diving too far to the south, because icebergs must be expected there. Second, it is exactly 1,000 nautical miles from an Australian military base where rescue planes are stationed. In an emergency, they could fly to the area concerned and search there for three hours before having to return to the mainland. According to Vendée Race Director Denis Horeau, should anyone need help further south than 1500 miles south of Australia, the people from the Australian MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Center) would not even start.
Behind the two leaders, the gaps have stabilized after Roland Jourdain, Sébastien Josse and Mike Golding made up around 70 miles to the two leaders over the weekend. Mike Golding in particular has done an impressive job since entering the Southern Ocean. In the meantime he was up to 300 nautical miles behind Jourdain and Josse, now only 30 miles separate him from fourth-placed Josse.