French Vendee Globe skipper Kito de Pavant was enduring an anxious wait this afternoon aboard his Bastide Otio after he struck an object which destroyed his keel housing, ripped off his aft keel mountings and left the appendage supported only by the hydraulic keel ram.

De Pavant, from the Occitanie region in SW France is placed 10th in the Vendée Globe round the world race some 120 miles to the north of the Crozet Islands. He reported a significant ingress of water, flooding the engine compartment. Race Direction have been working closely with the MRCC authorities at Gris Nez to organise a rescue. The MRCC have been in contact with the Marion Dufresne, the 120m long research and supply vessel of the TAAF (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises) which supplies the remote French archipelagos of Crozet, the Kerguelen, Saint Paul and Amsterdam islands. The Marion Dufresne was reported to be around 110 nautical miles away and had an ETA in the area during the early part of this evening with a plan to evacuate the skipper by rigid inflatable boat when daylight occurs around 0200hrs UTC.

Alain Gautier, the Vendée Globe Safety Director, explained: “We're hoping they will arrive at around 1700 UTC, but by then it will be dark there, so iti is down to the commanding officer of the ship to decide what sort of operation to carry out. They are likely to want to wait until day breaks at around 0100 UTC to launch a RIB to recover Kito. It will all depend on the conditions. We can imagine that the Marion Dufresne will position herself windward of Kito to try to calm down the seas. But she's not that big a boat, so we don't know if that will be enough to ensure a safe operation. Sunrise is at around 0130 UTC, but they may wait a while for the weather to ease. Already the winds will not be as strong during the night. Our goal is to get Kito aboard the Marion Dufresne. It will be up to Kito's team to deal with the boat, but that's not going to be easy in that zone. Meanwhile he has called us when he finds the time. After the shock this morning and the obvious disappointment, we can see that he is more in control of the situation now.”

De Pavant, 55 years old had battled through more than 48 hours of strong winds and big seas and was racing with a double reefed main making around 16kts in 40kts of wind and 4-6m seas. The popular skipper has been forced to retire from two previous Vendée Globe races, in 2008-9 when he was dismasted 18 hours after the start and in 2012-13 when he retired into Cascais after a collision with a trawler. In the previous editions, de Pavant's target was to win the Vendée Globe or at least to finish on the podium but prior to the start of this race he had stated several times that his primary objective this time was to achieve a finish. He had been sailing a mature, solid race since the start, taking no risks. “He had been sailing intelligently so far and this was his third Vendée Globe, so he really deserved a finish,” a shocked Yann Eliès told the Vendée LIVE programme when the news was broken live to the French skipper, who is in sixth place, and who himself had to be helicopter rescued after sustaining a fractured leg in December 2008 when south of Australia.

Sébastien Josse has been making steady progress in third place, back in race mode after a difficult 24 hours since he sustained damage to the port foil of his Edmond de Rothschild. Josse is reported to have secured the foil in its housing and was sailing at 10-13kts during this afternoon heading northwards. Critically Josse did not have to enter the Antarctic Exclusion Zone to escape the worst of the low pressure system, and by this afternoon the winds and seas had abated to more manageable proportions.

The group of four which are chasing behind the podium skippers, Paul Meilhat (SMA), Jéremie Beyou (Maitre CoQ), Yann Eliès (Quéguiner-Leucemie Espoir) and Jean Pierre Dick (StMichel Virbac) have made the best of the strong winds. Dick, in seventh, has closed to less than 170 miles behind Eliès and made more than 200 miles back on the leaders. Eliès is cutting back miles on Beyou and rookie Meilhat continues to sail a race which belies his relative inexperience in the Southern Ocean and is less than a day behind Josse now.

After 30 days of racing leader Armel Le Cléach (Banque Populaire VIII) has somewhere around 500 miles – or less than one and a half days of racing – to reach the half way point of the theoretical course distance of 24,500 miles. He leads Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) by 90 miles this evening.

At 0930 UTC this morning (Monday), while he was sailing 600 miles west of the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, Sébastien Josse contacted his shore team in the Vendee Globe Race to inform them that he had suffered major damage to the port foil on Edmond de Rothschild. Taking into account the weather conditions the skipper of Gitana Team has had over the past 24 hours and the worsening weather that is forecast in the area in the coming hours, the skipper in agreement with the team's owners, has temporarily put the race to one side and is currently studying the best possible options to allow the worst of the storm to go by.

Since yesterday, Sébastien Josse has had to face some very rough conditions ahead of a tropical low coming down from Madagascar. This morning, while sailing on the port tack in a westerly air stream blowing at between 30 and 35 knots and on heavy seas with waves in excess of 4m, the 60-foot monohull, Edmond de Rothschild got swept along on a wave and then ploughed into the bottom. The boat came to a sudden standstill and in the incident the port foil suddenly went right down. It slammed into the top of the housing, which damaged the upper part of the appendage and its trimming system. Sébastien Josse was inside when the incident occurred and was not injured.

In order to make safe the foil, which threatened to come out of its housing, which could have had serious consequences for the structural integrity of the hull in this part of the boat, Sébastien Josse gybed to change tack and continue on his starboard foil while trying to carry out temporary repairs. Gitana 16 was on a N-NE'ly heading towards Australia, but for safety reasons was unable to continue on this course for very long. This is in fact the precise trajectory taken by the centre of the low pressure system that the sailor has been trying to avoid for the past 24 hours by making headway towards the east as quickly as possible along the Antarctic Exclusion Zone. According to the latest forecasts, the sailor was likely to be facing 50-knot winds and very heavy seas with 10 m high waves. Since 1300 UTC the 60-foot monohullEdmond de Rothschild has gone back to a SE'ly heading.

Cyril Dardashti, Director of Gitana Team, and all his team, are in constant contact with Sébastien Josse to find the best possible solutions as quickly as possible and put them in place.

Armel Le Cleac'h should today smash the Vendee Globe Race record for the passage from Les Sables d'Olonne to Cape Leeuwin by somewhere around five and a half days. After adding to his lead over Alex Thomson last night, extending out to over 100 miles during a period of dificult, lighter breezes and awkward seas, the skipper of Banque Populaire VIII was 52 miles from the longitude of the second of the non stop solo round the world race's great capes at 0630TU this morning. The mark set on 15th December 2012 by Francois Gabart is 34 days 10 hours 30 minutes.

The testing, unsettled breezes have been making it difficult to go faster for the leaders, Le Cleac'h and Briton Thomson on Hugo Boss. Since midday yesterday five more skippers have entered the Indian Ocean passing the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope and Agulhas: Nandor Fa (Spirit of Hungary), Stéphane Le Diraison (Compagnie du Lit-Boulogne Bilancourt), Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline), Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut) and Conrad Colman (Foresight Natural Energy). This tightly grouped pack is to the south of the tip of Africa when the leading duo of the Vendee Globe are at the longitude of the south west of Australia. This morning the fastest skippers have been Jean-Pierre Dick (StMichel Virbac) and Jean Le Cam (Finistere Mer Vent) making over twenty knots a times. Others in the South Indian Ocean have been forced to reduce sail to deal with the heavy weather.

In third place this morning Sébastien Josse, six hundred miles behind his French compatriot Le Cléac'h said: "We're getting into the real business now with lows we haven't seen before, but this is the round the world race, the Vendée Globe!" The skipper of Edmond de Rothschild is the closest to a deep low and has been sailing in more than 40 knots of wind with a four metre swell. With the exception of the two tail-enders, practically the whole fleet is now into the low pressure train rhythm of the Southern Ocean, alternating lows and zones of high pressure with strong winds and then calms before another low pressure front catches them.

Correspondingly skippers have been moving been performance mode and protection mode in order to take care of the boat and the equipment. Jérémie Beyou now has his mainsail operational again after replacing the hook and track car at the top of his mainsail track on Maître CoQ. Paul Meilhat (SMA) prudently headed some way north to let the worst of the storm go by to his south. Yann Eliès (Quéguiner Leucémie Espoir) slowed down for the same reason.

At the start of this fifth week of racing it is the changing moods and challenges of the Roaring Forties which dictate strategy. François Gabart, the winner of the last edition of the Vendée Globe, said yesterday "In the lows, you stay inside your boat and you note down what is starting to suffer from wear and tear. In the transition zone, when it starts to calm slightly, you do your little DIY jobs and you get ready for the next big blow."

British Skipper, Alex Thomson, is on track to re-claim his lead in The Vendée Globe Race. Over the past 24 hours Thomson has gained 22.2nm cutting Armel Le Cléach’h’s lead on board Banque Populaire VIII from 29.9nm to 7.7nm.

For the vast duration of the race so far, Thomson had been leading the fleet; however a week ago he sustained damage to his yacht, HUGO BOSS, after a collision with an unidentified floating object whilst in the Southern Atlantic. This resulted in his starboard foil breaking off which robbed his IMOCA60 of its ability to foil on port tack.

Despite the damage Thomson was able to hold his lead for a while until the wind angles changed on day 21 and Banque Populaire VIII was able to take advantage of Thomson not being able to use his damaged starboard foil.

The leading pair have just passed north of the Kerguelen Islands, a remote archipelago of islands in the southern Indian Ocean, known as the desolate islands, and are on route to pass Australia on their way towards Cape Horn in South America.

“You certainly feel isolated here in The Southern Ocean” Said Thomson, the only Brit in the race. “You are miles away from land in one of the remotest locations on the planet. There is no one here to help or rescue you if something goes wrong and the only things around you are birds and albatrosses.

“It’s for this reason that you need to be careful in The Southern Ocean. You don’t want to push the boat too hard and break something. I’m currently ahead of the front sailing at 18-24 knots. I’m going to stay conservative and try to nip at Armels heals, If I can”

The Vendée Globe takes place every four years and has historically been dominated by the French. This year’s edition sees 29 IMOCA 60s compete in the race, including Thomson, the only British entrant.

The race is renowned for being one of the most gruelling sporting challenges in the world. Just 71 of the 138 starters since the race’s inception, back in 1989, have successfully completed the race, and three have lost their lives along the way.

Thomson is determined to be the first British skipper to win the race, which could take in the region of 80 days to complete.

In the Vendee Globe the Saint Helena High has returned to the fleet and Ireland's Enda O'Coineen is one skipper in the 29–boat fleet that has plotted to sail around the anti–cyclone.

While the first 10 skippers have good conditions in the South and can maintain high speeds, the others are having to face up to an extension of the Saint Helena High that will block their route tomorrow.

3 competitors have apparently chosen to bypass the anticyclone via the West (Roura, 0'Coineen and Heerema). They are sailing downwind and should not stall too much. The rest of the fleet clearly preferred a shorter route. They're sailing upwind in an easing breeze, which is getting lighter with a big swell. The conditions are not easy and it's unlikely to improve tomorrow with the wind getting even lighter.

Which is the best choice? A longer route with favorable winds or a more direct route with lighter headwinds? Answer within 48 or 72 hours, once the whole fleet hits the Roaring Forties.

Vendée Globe title contender Jérémie Beyou has revealed he is racing 'blind' after the satellite system he uses to get weather information broke.

The fifth-placed French sailor was today powering east at more than 20 knots, riding on a fast-moving depression 500 nautical miles south of South Africa and 700nm behind the leading pair of Alex Thomson and Armel Le Cléac'h.

Without the capability to look at what weather systems lie down the track for his Maître CoQ IMOCA 60 yacht, Beyou said he was having to glean whatever he could from safety reports from the Vendée Globe Race Management.

But he is effectively just having to deal with whatever the wind gods throw at him while trying to stay in touch with fourth-placed Paul Meilhat, whose SMA is just two miles ahead.

Thankfully Beyou has plenty of experience of ocean racing without weather information – he is a three-time winner of the Solitaire du Figaro, a solo race where any weather info is banned.

“Right now I'm simply operating on a day to day basis,” the 40-year-old from Morbihan in Brittany said. “I can't really follow what's going on ahead as I'm still lacking weather information due to a broken fleet satellite.
I am getting some information in the safety reports sent out by Race Management and I'm able to download the odd weather file with the Sat C.

Essentially, it's difficult to form a real game plan for more than 24 or 36 hours down the track so I'm making headway by observing the conditions around me and correcting my course accordingly.

It's not great but it reminds of a Solitaire du Figaro, where you're not allowed weather information.

I'm spending a lot of time at the chart table but, needless to say, it's not super efficient because just recently I was expecting 20 knots and ended up in gusts of 30 knots. It's a handicap to say the least.”

The battle for first place took yet another twist today when Armel Le Cléac'h moved ahead of Alex Thomson for the second time in two days.

The pair have been split by just a handful of miles since passing the Cape of Good Hope in record time two days ago.

At the 1400 UTC position report the pair were neck and neck, but Le Cléac'h's Banque Populaire had the tiniest of advantages over Thomson's Hugo Boss.

Dutch skipper Pieter Heerema has broken from the large group of boats languishing in the mid South Atlantic in the clutches of the St Helena High.

The No Way Back skipper is aiming to skirt round the bottom of the high pressure, a move that has already rewarded him with better breeze but uncomfortable conditions for racing.

“I should be more or less into the high pressure, but the wind is surprisingly strong,” the 65-year-old reported today. “It's been around 18 knots and it just went up to 20 knots.

The waves are huge and I've been bashing into them for more than 24 hours. It's not pleasant, but I think in the long term it'll be better to go along the sides of the high instead of the middle of it.”

Initiatives Coeur skipper Tanguy De Lamotte, who turned back to Les Sables d'Olonne with mast damage 10 days into the race, is due to reach the Vendée Globe home port tomorrow, but not before he gets one last thrashing from the elements in his home waters of the Bay of Biscay.
“I'm leapfrogging off the waves in Biscay, while the others are making headway in the Southern Ocean,” he said.
We're heeled right over, slamming through the waves so I will be happy to get to my destination, even though I'll have to resign myself to officially retiring from the race just before my team climbs aboard. I'll be the first to make it back to Les Sables, but without going around the world alas.”

French skipper Armel Le Cléac'h today reclaimed the Vendée Globe pole position from Alex Thomson – only for the British skipper to instantly steal it back.

At the 0800 UTC position update Le Cléac'h moved into first place for the first time since losing the lead to Thomson two weeks ago.

The change in frontrunner came almost three weeks into the solo round the world race as the top two skippers tried to navigate through a tricky patch of light winds on their way to the Southern Ocean's big breeze.

With Thomson gybing north Le Cléac'h chose to continue east, and when the rankings came through the French sailor's Banque Populaire VIII was eight nautical miles ahead.

However, three hours later it was all change again, this time Le Cléac'h opting to head north while Thomson went east.

By 1100 UTC Thomson was back in the driving seat with a 16nm buffer - a spot he has commanded for all but today's three-hour blip since November 12 – but both he and Le Cléac'h were only making 12 knots of speed in similar wind.

Le Cléac'h said the most important thing was not his ranking but that he had caught Thomson up. “It's not easy trying to make headway as we're in a light patch between two lows,” he said. “We're trying to pick our way through in the shifty conditions, but it feels good to have caught up with Alex. I've repositioned myself to the north now because things were stalling and my main focus is staying in some breeze.”

Three hundred miles adrift of the leading pair, third placed Sebastien Josse was today struggling in light winds but speeds will pick up when his Edmond de Rothschild is scooped up by the depression currently being ridden by Paul Meilhat in fourth and Jeremie Beyou in fifth.

“We have a light wind with more high pressure than the others, but it's set to pick up in 24 hours and then we can sail quite fast and straight to Australia,” Josse said. “Three weeks in and my boat's in great shape as we haven't had much bad weather since the start so we've been quick, as shown my Alex's records. It's amazing how fast the boats are but we haven't had the real Vendée Globe yet.”

Nearly 2,000nm behind the leaders the tussle between Jean-Pierre Dick, Thomas Ruyant and Jean Le Cam entered a new phase, the latter losing out after the weather front the trio was hooked onto passed over his yacht Finistère Mer Vent.

The 57-year-old, competing in his fourth Vendée Globe, revealed that he lost further miles when he slept through his alarm.

“Last night I was constantly making sail changes, the wind going from 35 to 15 knots in the blink of an eye,” he said. “I finally settled with two reefs in the main and a storm sail up, watched it for a while longer and then got some shut-eye. Unfortunately, I then slept through my alarm and woke up five hours later in very calm conditions, still under two reefs and storm sail… the whole works!”

While Le Cam must now dive south in search of better breeze, Ruyant and Dick are set to extend their lead as they profit from the leading edge of the low pressure.

Further misery awaits the biggest group of boats from Louis Burton's Bureau Vallée in 11th to Enda O'Coineen's Kilcullen Voyager – Team Ireland in 23rd as another high moves into their path.

The only sailor in that back pack still smiling is Alan Roura from Switzerland – the La Fabrique skipper could soon find himself jumping up the leaderboard if he is able to skirt the bottom of the high pressure.

Morgan Lagravière, forced out of racing two days ago with rudder damage, arrived safely in Cape Town at 0830 UTC on Safran. Vincent Riou, also heading to the South African port, was due to make land late this evening.

Meanwhile the international jury decided to hand Jeremie Beyou a two-hour penalty for accidentally breaking the seal on his engine when he fell on it.

Yesterday evening Enda O'Coineen reached the first major milestone in the Vendee Globe by crossing the equator. This is the first of many milestones in the solo non-stop round the world sailing race considered the Everest of the Seas. The boat is in fantastic shape and as you'll see from the video Enda is in 'exceptional' form as he settles into this 100 day solo challenge.

“I'm doing very well – I've got a very stable weather pattern. I'm looking forward to crossing the Equator and getting back in the fleet. I went very far east when I should have followed the old rule of staying west. I thought I could get back but it didn't work.

“But I'm on great form, my daughter delivered my granddaughter, my first granddaughter, yesterday, so that's very good news. I'm not ready to be a parent yet let alone a grandparent so I shudder at the thought! Maybe this will make me a better parent when I get back. I've got very tolerant and understanding children. It was a difficult pregnancy for Roisin, she was long overdue and it was quite a reasonable concern.

“I think the emotion is more amplified. You think an awful lot more and it's more intense because of the isolation. You think through life and all the details 24/7, and that's combined with the physical and mental activities. It is more moving – on land you've lots of other things going on so the brain doesn't have the same ability to focus. The emotional part is much deeper.

“Whether it's driving me harder or not I don't know - in fact, I'm being more careful to tell you the truth. Every time you get up and walk on deck you're putting yourself at risk. These boats are machines and you've got to keep them turning over. Fortunately the boat is in good shape and so am I. My shoulder is still a bit sore, it's taken me two weeks to recover, but I'm in better shape now than when I started. I'm really looking forward to getting into the Southern Ocean, just for a day! The idea of being there for a month.... the cold will get into you. It's easy to say that sitting here on the Equator in warm conditions.

“15 days in and like everyone else you wonder how I ever talked myself into this one, but it's a long road ahead and there are some very high moments and some very low moments. At the moment it's good, it's all very solid, just trotting along at about 10 knots at an angle of about 80 degrees. The wind is freeing slightly so that's great.

“We'll have a little bottle of champagne and a big fat cigar [at the Equator], and I've made special arrangements to have an appointment arranged with King Neptune himself. He's going to come and visit and I'm going to ask him to bless my new granddaughter. We'll have a chat and share some secrets, and I'm sure King Neptune will look after us all. I think that's very important, so I'm looking forward to that appointment. It's the equivalent to the appointment at the Pearly Gates at Heaven – or Hell! - but I think it's going to be Heaven this time. I'll probably cross the Equator later on this afternoon or tonight. It might be more like tonight. We're making 10 knots so it will be some time later today.

“I wouldn't say my spirits are high but I'm in good solid form. You have to manage yourself emotionally through the ups and downs but with this extreme sailing in lovely warm tradewinds I'm happy on my boat. I can't complain!”

Vendee Globe leader Alex Thomson came within a whisker of setting a new world record for the furthest distance sailed solo in 24 hours before a collision in the South Atlantic put paid to his chances. Data revealed today from Vendee Globe HQ shows that Thomson, the sole Briton in the singlehanded round the world race, had sailed 535.34 nautical miles when the starboard foil of Hugo Boss was ripped off by a submerged object yesterday.

The distance sailed by Thomson is actually greater than that set by reigning Vendee Globe champion and current record holder François Gabart, who notched up 534.48 nautical miles in the 2012/13 edition of the race. However the official rules of the record state it must be broken by one whole mile in order to be recognised - and Thomson's distance falls short of that by just 259 metres.

The narrow miss is symbolic of Thomson's luck over the past 24 hours. He was pulling away at the head of the 29-strong fleet when Hugo Boss was wounded in the collision at 1035 UTC.

Where a foil once exited the boat only a stump now remains, something Thomson will have to deal with for the remainder of the race. The ailment has already started to have an effect on the rankings. Thomson has been forced to take his foot off the gas and his healthy 125nm lead has since been whittled down to under 90 nm. Josse, who has moved into second, and Le Cleac'h, in third, have been trying without success to hunt down Thomson since he snatched the lead eight days ago, but they have now started to move in tentatively.

* Bertrand de Broc forced to retire

Following on from the collision that his boat experienced early in the race off Portugal, and after sailing to the island of Fernando de Noronha and diving twice to inspect what was happening under his hull, Bertrand de Broc, skipper of the monohull MACSF, after consulting with Marc Guillemot his Team Manager, has taken the decision this evening to retire from the race.

Bertrand de Broc decided yesterday evening to head for the island of Fernando de Noronha to inspect the hull of his boat. After consulting his architect, Bertrand has been forced to retire from his fourth Vendee Globe. A large part of the hull has in fact been damaged, making it impossible to continue in the race. The deafening noise that is coming from the damaged hull is very handicapping for the skipper, even if he was wearing noise-cancelling headphones. This was a very difficult decision for the successful skipper and his team, who have done their utmost to enable him to continue this solo race around the world. Tackling the Southern Ocean in these conditions, Bertrand knew would be extremely risky. It was therefore the wise thing to do, even if he is very disappointed.

British race leader Alex Thomson was forced to slow his 60ft foiling yacht today after it hit a submerged object in the South Atlantic in the Vendee Globe Race. One of the boat's two foils, which help lift it out of the water to give it more speed, was damaged in the collision with the unidentified object floating beneath the surface.

Thomson was sailing at 24 knots in 22 knots of wind at the head of the Vendee Globe fleet, a position he has occupied for a week, at 0935 UTC when he heard a bang and his boat Hugo Boss changed direction. Thomson, who had been down below trying to sleep at the time, went up on deck and turned the boat downwind so he could inspect it. He found the starboard foil to be damaged and also noticed scrapes down the starboard side of the hull. Until the collision Thomson had been on course to set a new 24-hour solo distance world record, and in the 24 hours prior to the 1100 UTC position update had notched up 531 miles.

Thomson has now retracted the damaged foil and slowed his boat. He said there does not appear to be any structural damage but he will further inspect the boat when the weather conditions allow. “Having had a pretty quick night where the boat was sailing high averages and the boat was super uncomfortable I had retracted the foil 30 per cent early this morning and was sailing the boat pretty conservatively in a building breeze,” Thomson said this evening. “At 09.35 UTC this morning I was down below trying to sleep and the boat was sailing in 22kts of wind with a J2 and one reef in the main. I was averaging 24kts of boat speed when I heard an almighty bang and the boat stopped and turned to starboard by about 20 degrees. I quickly went on deck, eased the main sheet and realised I must have hit something. I eased the boat down wind and went to take a look and the starboard foil has been damaged and there are some scrapes on the starboard side of the boat. Right now I have taken the foot completely off the throttle and changed sails and retracted the foil and will sail on in these conditions until the wind and sea state moderate and I can inspect the damage and assess. I didn't see anything in the water but it felt like the boat wrapped itself around something and it has caused some pretty significant damage to my foil. I was instructed to carry out an internal inspection of the boat and there does not appear to be any structural damage to the hull that I can see. For now I am going to continue and assess when I get the chance.”

Ross Daniel, technical director of Alex Thomson Racing, added: “We spend years pre-Vendee Globe trying to mitigate risk but hitting something in the water is something you have absolutely no control over – it's very frustrating. We always knew that there was a risk that a foil could hit something so we took it into account with the design of the boat. It can sail with or without the foil, so it's not the end of the world, but obviously one tack will now be faster than the other. Alex is going to have to change the way he sails depending on what tack he is on. At the moment there is just the stump of the foil left so Alex will remove that once the weather allows and he will be back up to speed again. Luckily for us the majority of port sailing in this race is down to Cape Town and thereafter there's a lot of starboard. If we were mid-fleet it would be a different story but we've got a nice gap at the front.”

It might be fast and furious at the front but life in the peloton is about to get worse. A second centre to the notorious St Helena High is developing right in the path of the group led by Yann Eliès, who now lies some 624nm adrift of Thomson in eighth. The door that welcomed the race leaders through is about to slam shut, trapping the chasing pack in light winds and rendering them powerless to stop the gap growing further.

Meanwhile veteran skipper Bertrand de Broc this afternoon took shelter in the lee of Fernando de Noronha, a South Atlantic island chain off the coast of Brazil, to inspect damage caused when he hit an object off the coast of Portugal. De Broc dived underneath MACSF and was able to see some damage but couldn't establish what it was before he was forced to board his drifting boat. It is thought he will anchor to allow him to dive for longer.

Meanwhile Dutch competitor Pieter Hereema was relishing the 'champagne sailing' on offer in the south easterly trade winds. Despite being in 24th place, the 65-year-old was high in spirits as he forged a path south on No Way Back. “It's fine, beautiful weather – beautiful sailing conditions,” he said. “It's a shame it's all upwind but that's what it is in this part when you want to go south. I'm enjoying it very much and I hope in a few days to be able to crack the sheets and have a little bit of an easier angle to sail. This part here is not what the Vendee Globe is famous for – this is champagne sailing. The race is not only about big waves, freezing cold and 45 knots of wind. It's a long race and there are many more weeks to come that will be more difficult and more uncomfortable.”