Summary of the VendeeGlobe2012-2013 - 2nd part

the Dual for the lead has  started  between the 2 Leaders. 

Week 4

The different options chosen by the skippers started showing results on November 30, when the leader himself admitted the southerly route may have been the best. Dick briefly took the lead of the race on December 1, just before entering the « Great South » from Armel Le Cléac'h, who had led since November 16. In the process, the Virbac-Paprec skipper set a new 24-hour record, covering more than 500 miles – 502! – in a day. But François Gabart was the one crossing the first of the eight ice gates first. The leaders - Le Cléac'h, Gabart, Dick and Stamm – regrouped with Thomson 100 miles behind them while the pendant que les « senior sailors » tried to keep up with the rhythm 400 miles behind the front runners. On December 2, Jean Le Cam noticed a net was caught up in his keel and decided to dive to release it. The complex operation was a success and became one of the unforgettable moments in the race. On Monday, December 3, Armel Le Cléac'h was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope after 22d23h46’ of race, beating the previous record, set by Vincent Riou in 2004, by more than 24 hours. Finally, it was Indian Ocean time!

The leaders’ speed in such strong wind widened the gap between the frontrunners and the chasing skippers, with 2,200 miles (4,000 kilometres) between the leaders and the last skipper. The former tried to sail as fast as they possibly can to avoid the anticyclone threatening to catch up with them, which turned out to be difficult because of a tricky cross sea. While Armel Le Cléac'h was heading north to cross the ice gates, his opponents chose a curvier southerly route, despite the risk of coming across ice. Behind them, the « senior sailors » were in a close fight - Dominique Wavre and Jean Le Cam even sailed at sight for a few hours on December 7. Armel Le Cléac'h might have been the first to cross the Crozet gate, the anticyclone ended up catching up with him and the Banque Populaire skipper gave up his leadership position to Gabart and then to Stamm, before taking it back a few days later while the other skippers were forced to head north to cross the mandatory gate.

Week 5

Armel Le Cléac'h took the lead on December 8^th. Once the second ice gate was passed, the weather conditions were suitable for speed records with a strong northwesterly wind that pushed leaders on a little formed sea. François Gabart was the fastest in that speed game and shattered the 24 hours record with 534.48 miles... Incredible! He took the opportunity to take over the lead, and two days later, he set a new record: the best time ever achieved between Les Sables d'Olonne and Cape Leeuwin (34d10h23'). The duel with Le Cléac'h looked like a match-race as the distance between the two leaders was reduced to its minimum compared the entire Vendée Globe journey... Therefore, it was increasingly difficult for their rivals to follow them, particularly for Bernard Stamm, who faced several problems with his mainsail boards, and a very unlucky Alex Thomson, who hit two UFOs in less than 24 hours, which destroyed his hydrogenerator, damaged his rudder and broke another rudder tie bar. Only Jean-Pierre Dick managed to stay in the leaders’ wake. While crossing the Amsterdam gate, the MACIF skipper was only 20 minutes ahead, after 24,000km of sailing! At the end of the fifth week, Gabart, Le Cléac'h and Dick managed to stay in the same weather conditions while, behind them, Thomson and Stamm stalled. Then the gap with the leaders grew quickly; respectively 500 and 600 miles. While the first skippers arrived at the Cape Leeuwin, Alessandro Di Benedetto (Team Plastique) crossed the Cape of Good Hope on December 12, 2012...

THE picture:  Tanguy de Lamotte's "Smoke on the Water"

© Tanguy de Lamotte / Initiatives-Coeur

 

Important facts:

December 7: Jean Le Cam and Dominique Wavre see each other in the middle of the Indian Ocean, sailing a few hundred metres away from each other.

December 9: Sam Davies is back in Les Sables d’Olonne, so is Jérémie Beyou.

During the night, as he was sailing at fast speed, Alex Thomson hits a UFO, seriously damaging HUGO BOSS’ rudder blade and breaking his hydrogenerator. The British skipper works all night long in order to fix the problems which will later cause many energy issues.

December 10: François Gabart shatters the 24-hour record, covering 532 miles.

December 12: Bubi breaks part of his starboard rudder blade.

December 14: François Gabart stes a new record between Les Sables d’Olonne and Cape Leeuwin in 34d10h23'

Rankings:

1. Banque Populaire
2. MACIF
3. Virbac Paprec 3
4. Cheminées Poujoulat
5. HUGO BOSS
6. SynerCiel
7. Gamesa
8. Mirabaud
9. ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
10. AKENA Vérandas
11. Votre Nom autour du Monde avec EDM Projets
12. Initiatives-cœur
13. Team Plastique

Key quotes:

Alessandro Di Benedetto (ITA, Team Plastique), December 4

« It’s so much fun to sail on this boat, I can run on the deck and stand up, which I wasn’t used to. And she also goes much faster than a 6.50-metre boat, it’s amazing. This is a beautiful race, I have no words to describe it. And the boat is doing ok. »
 

Bernard Stamm (SUI, Cheminées Poujoulat), December 7

« It’s just awesome! The boat is great, even though she still needs improved protection, but apart from that, it’s fun. Conditions are good but tough, especially when the boat is going full speed. We’re close to each other, it feels like a regatta, it’s cool. Last night, I saw François on the AIS. »
 

Mike Golding (GBR, Gamesa), December 9

« The ice gates have changed the race a lot, and even more so now they have been moved. As I’ve said before, as a result, we haven’t made the right sail choices. If I had known we’d sail that much north, I would have taken different sails with me. But it’s the same for every one of us and to be honest, it’s still better than to have to play Russian roulette with icebergs at night! »

François Gabart (FRA, MACIF), December 13

«I have a hard time keeping track of records and race time since we don’t have the same routes. And the ice gates are making things different, too. That’s why I think it’s useless to compare race times, I’m not interested, I don’t care. It’s pointless. »

Dominique Wavre (SUI, Mirabaud), February 8

« I could see the boat of my buddy, Jean, getting closer, it was amazing. Mike Golding wasn’t far away either, it was a real fight. Jean got closer and closer, I tried to call him on the VHF but he didn’t answer. Finally I saw him get on the deck, shooting a video of me… just when I was filming him too! »

video of Synerciel meeting Mirabaud

Summary of the VendeeGlobe2012-2013 - 1st Part

The Start of VendeeGlobe2012, some made a Good and some a Bad Start.

Week 1

Saturday, November 10. More than 300,000 people were out early in the morning to give the twenty skippers a warm sendoff despite the rainy and cold weather. Just like in any of the previous editions, the channel moment was an emotional one for the sailors embodying the public’s dreams of adventure. French actor François Cluzet gave the start signal at 1.02PM. Five overeager competitors (Gabart, De Pavant, Gutowski, Le Cléac'h and Riou) crossed the start line early while Bertrand de Broc (Votre Nom autour du Monde avec EDM Projets), who had damaged his boat 25 minutes before the official start, was already back on the pontoons. He eventually left thirteen hours after the others and sailed across poor Marc Guillemot (Safran) who lost his keel after only 4h43 in the race. The Breton skipper was the first to pull out of the race. Young and spirited François Gabart (Macif) immediately took the lead of the fleet and sailed aggressively in a rough sea. Then, after three days of race, came the second abandon. Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) hit a fishing boat, ripping off his boomsprit and roof, while he was in the cabin for a ten-minute nap. The French sailor changed his route and sailed to Cascais, Portugal. Meanwhile, behind Gabart, Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) and Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) kept up with the leader’s intense rhythm, followed by Riou  (PRB), who chose a more westerly route. This was the time for the very first tactical choices. That is when the youngest skipper in the fleet, Louis Burton, 27, also hit a fishing boat and decided to sail back to Les Sables d’Olonne to try to fix his damaged shroud. But Burton will eventually have to resign and pull out of the race. On the evening of Thursday, November 15, Samantha Davies (Savéol) dismasted in very rough weather conditions. She was the fourth sailor to pull out of the race and, after only one week, the Vendée Globe had already lost 20% of its fleet. Le Cléac'h became the new race leader off the Canary Islands, ahead of Gabart and Stamm. There are only 25 miles between the first three skippers and 100 miles between the first six.

Week 2

The remaining skippers were back in much nicer sailing conditions when, on November 17, Jérémie Beyou (Maître CoQ) broke his keel jack while sailing northwest of Cape Verde and eventually pulled out of the race two days later. On the same weekend, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) broke his rudder tie bar but managed to repair it without losing ground. Meanwhile, Javier Sanso (ACCIONA 100%EcoPowered) had to climb up his mast to fix his main sail traveller. The fleet was made up of three separate groups : the favourites (Le Cléac'h, Gabart, Dick, Stamm, Riou, Thomson), the senior outsiders (Golding, Wavre, Le Cam), and the « latecomers» (Boissières, De Lamotte, De Broc, Di Benedetto). On day 9, Le Cléac'h entered the infamous Doldrums, which gave the chasing skippers an opportunity to come back. That area of extremely unstable winds proved to be particularly tough on the leaders and their race became so close some skippers could actually see each other for a few hours! On November 21, after days of surprising route choices, Poland’s Zbigniew « Gutek » Gutkowski (Energa), abandons the race because of recurring autopilot issues. On the same day, Armel Le Cléac'h left the Doldrums behind and was the first skipper to cross the Equator. The chasing skippers followed him a few hours behind and closed the gap on him in the South Atlantic. Behind them, Mike Golding (Gamesa) crossed the Equator for the 22^nd time and, after 12 days at sea, eight of the Vendée Globe skippers were in the south hemisphere, with Armel Le Cléac'h leading them for an entire week. Because of particularly southerly St Helena’s Highs, the first skippers had to choose a westerly route.

Week 3

On Saturday, November 24, Vincent Riou hit an Unidentified Floating Object - a massive drifting buoy – tearing the front part of PRB’s hull and seriously damaging the ourigger. After a first repair attempt, the former Vendée Globe winner eventually had to put an end to his race on the next day. Skippers’ strategies were exposed as Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) moved away from the direct route and sailed south, soon followed by François Gabart, while Armel Le Cléac'h continued on the initial route. Skippers at the back of the fleet, led by Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) with Mike Golding and Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud), started closing the gap. 250 miles behind the Swiss, Javier Sanso found himself 150 miles ahead of Arnaud Boissières (AKENA Vérandas).

Week 4

The different options chosen by the skippers started showing results on November 30, when the leader himself admitted the southerly route may have been the best. Dick briefly took the lead of the race on December 1, just before entering the « Great South » from Armel Le Cléac'h, who had led since November 16. In the process, the Virbac-Paprec skipper set a new 24-hour record, covering more than 500 miles – 502! – in a day. But François Gabart was the one crossing the first of the eight ice gates first. The leaders - Le Cléac'h, Gabart, Dick and Stamm – regrouped with Thomson 100 miles behind them while the pendant que les « senior sailors » tried to keep up with the rhythm 400 miles behind the front runners. On December 2, Jean Le Cam noticed a net was caught up in his keel and decided to dive to release it. The complex operation was a success and became one of the unforgettable moments in the race. On Monday, December 3, Armel Le Cléac'h was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope after 22d23h46’ of race, beating the previous record, set by Vincent Riou in 2004, by more than 24 hours. Finally, it was Indian Ocean time!

The leaders’ speed in such strong wind widened the gap between the frontrunners and the chasing skippers, with 2,200 miles (4,000 kilometres) between the leaders and the last skipper. The former tried to sail as fast as they possibly can to avoid the anticyclone threatening to catch up with them, which turned out to be difficult because of a tricky cross sea. While Armel Le Cléac'h was heading north to cross the ice gates, his opponents chose a curvier southerly route, despite the risk of coming across ice. Behind them, the « senior sailors » were in a close fight - Dominique Wavre and Jean Le Cam even sailed at sight for a few hours on December 7. Armel Le Cléac'h might have been the first to cross the Crozet gate, the anticyclone ended up catching up with him and the Banque Populaire skipper gave up his leadership position to Gabart and then to Stamm, before taking it back a few days later while the other skippers were forced to head north to cross the mandatory gate.

7 abandons

November 10: Marc Guillemot (5.45PM): lost keel

November 12: Kito de Pavant: hit a fishing boat

November 16: Samantha Davies: Dismasting on the evening of the 15^th + Louis Burton: Hit a fishing boat on the 14^th

November 19: Jérémie Beyou: keel jack issue discovered on the 17^th

November 25: Vincent Riou: hit a UFO on the 24^th

November 21: Zbigniew « Gutek » Gutkowski: Autopilot issue

Highlights

November 10: Bertrand de Broc comes back to Les Sables d'Olonne 20 minutes before the start of the race to fix a hole in the bow.

November 12: Bernard Stamm faces his first hydrogenerators tie issues, the very first of a long list of problems for Cheminées Poujoulat.

November 15: Javier Sanso seeks shelter after a technical incident. He sails without his main sail for 32 hours before heading to the Canarias Islands. He is back in the race on November 17 with his boat at 100% of her potential.

November 16: Alex Thomson’s first repairs (Rudder tie bar)

November 21: 7 skippers are given a penalty for sailing across a cargo traffic lane (2 hours for Le Cam, Wavre, Sanso, De Lamotte and Gutek; 30minutes for Golding and 20 minutes for Dick)

December 1: Jean-Pierre Dick sets a new 24-hour record with 502 miles covered at an average speed of 20,9 knots.

December 2: Jean Le Cam has to dive under the SynerCiel hull to remove a fishing net caught in the keel. After a 30-minute operation, Le Cam is back in the race.

MACIF  is the first to cross the Aiguilles ice gate at 19h01mn41s (UTC).

THE picture
Kito de Pavant's sadness and disappoitment after pulling out of the race

© Ricardo Pinto / Windreport' / Groupe Bel

Rankings:

1. Banque Populaire
2. Virbac-Paprec 3
3. MACIF
4. Cheminées Poujoulat
5. HUGO BOSS
6. Gamesa
7. SynerCiel
8. Mirabaud
9. AKENA Vérandas
10. ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
11. Votre Nom autour du Monde avec EDM Projets
12. Initiatives-cœur
13. Team Plastique
     

Key quotes:

Marc Guillemot (FRA, Safran), November 11

« I am extremely disappointed and I really hope we can find out what happened. It’s tough, but it would take more than that to stop me. I know the disappointment will disappear eventually and we’ll try to move on and, most of all, to understand why this happened. The race goes on, I’ll keep thinking about all the skippers who are still in the race. »

Kito de Pavant (FRA, Groupe Bel), November 16
« The disappointment just won’t go away, it’s going to be a very long winter for Marc, Sam, Louis and myself. We’ll have difficult times. »

Jérémie Beyou (FRA, Maître CoQ), November 19
« The race is over and it makes me so angry. It shouldn’t have happened. When it did, I was so nervous it made me laugh because I just couldn’t believe this was happening. And then I was just mad and I stayed focused on the repairs. Yesterday, I haven’t been able to sleep at all. I ate a lot – there’s plenty of food – and eventually, I crashed in bed. I’m feeling a little better this morning, my mind is clearer. »

Armel Le Cléac’h (FRA, Banque Populaire), November 21

« We entered the southern hemisphere at around 8 AM. I’m doing fine, the champagne didn’t hit me too hard because I didn’t drink too much of it. I’m glad the part between Les Sables and the Equator is now over, the gaps aren’t too big and my fellow Vendée Globe skippers are close. The favourites are in good positions and we’ll have a nice fight over the next few weeks. »

Vincent Riou (FRA, PRB), November 25

« I took my time before making the decision because I wanted to make sure there was not the slightest possibility to stay in the race. But at one point, you have to be realistic and see there is no way I’ll be able to finish the race. That’s one of the most difficult things about being a skipper. Sometimes things are just not fair and you need to learn to accept that. If you don’t, it’s impossible to go on. But it’s hard, because we worked so hard before the race… »

Jean Le Cam (FRA, SynerCiel), December 3
« When you’re at sea, you just can’t go back any more but before the race starts, you ask yourself many questions. You have to think hard about everything before the beginning of the race and ponder every decision before going out there. If someone had told me I’d dive under my boat in the roaring forties, I would have thought that person is crazy… »

Video Sam Davies pulles out of the Race

Last Arrival closes the VendeeGlobe2012-2013

All captains happy before the VendeeGlobe Start 

But not all of them would be able to Finish this edition of the VendeeGlobe. 

Only 11 Boats brought it too a proper finish after circling the world solo-handed on an IMOCA60 Boat. 

The Final Leaderboard :

1- François Gabart (FRA/MACIF) 78d02h18'
2- Armel Le Cléac´h (FRA/Banque Populaire) 78d05h33' (+3h17’)
3- Alex Thomson (GBR/Hugo Boss) 80d19h23' (+2d13h49’)
4- Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA/Virbac-Paprec 3) 86d03h03' (+8d00h47’)
5- Jean Le Cam (FRA/SynerCiel) 88d00h12' (+9d21h56’)
6- Mike Golding (GBR/Gamesa) 88d06h36' (+10d04h19’)
7- Dominique Wavre (SUI/Mirabaud) 90d03h14' (+12d00h58’)
8- Arnaud Boissières (FRA/AKENA Vérandas) 91d02h09' (+12d23h52’)
9- Bertrand De Broc (FRA/Votre Nom autour du Monde avec EDM Projets) 92d17h10' (+14d14h53’)
10- Tanguy De Lamotte (FRA/Initiatives-coeur) 98d21h56' (+20d19h39’)
11- Alessandro Di Benedetto (FRA-ITA/Team Plastique) 104d02h34' (+26d00h17’)

Not in the rankings:
-Bernard Stamm (SUI/Cheminées Poujoulat), disqualified

Did not finish
-Marc Guillemot (FRA/Safran) lost his keel on November 10
-Kito de Pavant (FRA/Groupe Bel) hit a fishing boat on November 12
-Louis Burton (FRA/Bureau Vallée) hit a fishing boat on November 14
-Sam Davies (GBR/Savéol) dismasted on November 15
-Jérémie Beyou (FRA/Maître CoQ) keel jack problem on November 17
-Zbigniew Gutkowski (POL/ENERGA) autopilot issue on November 21
-Vincent Riou (FRA/PRB) hit a UFO on November 24

-Javier Sanso (ESP, ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered) capsised on February 3 

The youngest designed Boats won the 1st and 2nd place, giving an extra boost for Alex Thompson on his 3rd place with an older style Imoca Boat. 

Main problems encountered were with the Keels, and the Hydrogenerators. For sure Imoca has to make some improvements to make the Boats better suited for a RoundtheWorld Race. 

I guess this will be my last posting on the VendeeGlobe2012. If however you do like to continue sailing in a virtual manner, I can recommend LiveSkipper, (www.liveskipper.com) . This virtual  player is of a newer generation as the old VR player used in the Vendee. 

LiveSkipper is free to use with all available  sails, and boat types and its modern navigation tools and an excellent scheduler for programmed sailing during your hours of sleep or  work. Such that ALL sailors have a equal playing field. 
(see the  TAB "Virtual Sailing" where I have made reference to some virtual sailing players, and in a document I have given my pro's and con's leading to my conclusion that LiveSkipper is the BEST virtual Sailing Game on the Internet in the moment. 

Paradise49, My Virtual Sailing Boat, Finished VendeeGlobe 2012-2013

Paradise49, my Virtual Boat sailing in the VendeeGlobe 2012-2013 had finished. The total sailing time was 91 Days, 1 Hour, 8 Minutes and 42 Seconds.

My Certificate for Success in Virtual VendeeGlobe. 

I finished on 57023th place, not too fast, but I did sail all in the basic boats without any additional options and living in a time-zone that is the worst for the twice daily wind updates resulting regularly in 5 hrs of sailing with the wrong sail or sailing the wrong heading or laying still in "Irons". Had I lived in Europe , for sure I would have sailed better and I hope, that next VG the wind updates are 4 times daily such the all Virtual Sailors worldwide have on this point an even playing field.

I am happy that this RoundtheWorld Sailing in VirtualRegatta is over as now I can concentrate more on my virtual Boats in LIVESKIPPER, the best virtual sailing player on the WorldWideWeb.

Since my last post also 2 more Real Boats in VendeeGlobe have finished.
-7th Dominique Wavre on Mirabaud
 Sailing time : 90 Days, 3 Hours, 14 Minutes and 42 Seconds
- 8th Arnaud Boissieres on AKENA Verandas.
 Sailing time: 91 Days, 2 Hours, 9 Minutes and 2 seconds
 That is just 1 Hour and 1 minute after me on my Paradise49 passed the Finish :)

Many more Skippers finished VendeeGlobe, official and un-official.

The most remarkable of the finishers was Bernard Stamm. 

Further more in sequence we could see the finish of  Jean Le Cam and Mike Golding over the last days. 

Many More Skippres finished the VendeeGlobe2012

It was a harsh decision to DSQ Stamm, for the little assistance he received while saveguarding his own Boat and preventing damage to another Ship. But Bernard kept his focus and good spirit and finished among the other VG skippers safely in Les Sables d'Olonne!


- Jean Le Cam's arrival video 
- Bernard Stamm's arrival video
- Mike Golding's arrival video


total table of finished skippers in VendeeGlobe2012

1	MACIF  François Gabart	Arrival : Sunday 27 January 2013, 14:18:40 TU Race time : 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes and 40 seconds
2	Banque Populaire  Armel Le Cléac´h	Arrival : Sunday 27 January 2013, 17:35:52 TU Race time : 78 days 5 hours 33 minutes and 52 seconds
3	HUGO BOSS  Alex Thomson	Arrival : Wednesday 30 January 2013, 07:25:43 TU Race time : 80 days 19 hours 23 minutes and 43 seconds
4	Virbac Paprec 3  Jean-Pierre Dick	Arrival : Monday 04 February 2013, 15:05:40 TU Race time : 86 days 3 hours 3 minutes and 40 seconds
5	SynerCiel  Jean Le Cam	Arrival : Wednesday 06 February 2013, 12:14:58 TU Race time : 88 days 0 hours 12 minutes and 58 seconds
6	Gamesa  Mike Golding	Arrival : Wednesday 06 February 2013, 18:38:26 TU Race time : 88 days 6 hours 36 minutes and 26 seconds

Bernard Stamm Arrival Wednesday 6 Feb 2013 at 22:30:50 UTC

Sailing time: 88 days 10hours 28 minutes and 50 seconds. 

Some finish without a Keel and some not!

This Image shows clearly that the Boat Acciona 100% EcoPower has lost its swinging Keel!
This is the 3rd Boat , this VG2012 alone, that lost its Keel, while one more Boat suffered a broken hydraulic rod to push the Keel; other VG have seen also Boats that lost its Keel. 
For sure an item that  needs attention from Imoca to make this Boats seaworthy for a Round the World race.

ACCIONA  capsized, Javier Sanso is rescued and save!

A video of Javier's Rescue

Le sauvetage de Javier Sanso by VendeeGlobeTV

Javier must be a lucky unhappy Sailor. Unhappy that his Boats shed off its Keel and he can not finish this VendeeGlobe 2012 race; Lucky that he is rescued and save.

While Javier was thrown off his Boat into the Water and his boat turned complete over; Jean-Pierre Dick was given the time to react and could save the Boat from capsizing.  The difference outcome is large, Javier is out of the race, while JP has finished, but the circumstances that decide will be a matter of very small margins, of wind strength, the side of the wave you are on and the time the boat takes to heel.

JP Dick has finished the VendeeGlobe 2012 as 4th , sailing some 2000Nm without his Keel and sheltering in a small cove to wait out a storm.

JP Dick finished 4th 

At least he did not have any problems with the times of the tides to enter the channel to Les Sables :wink: He must be the luckiest man of the fleet, seeing what can happen with loosing a Keel.

A video of the arrival of JP Dick can be seen, as well as a video for the arrival of Alex Thompson 

VendeeGlobe 2012-2013 Finished

François Gabart o/b MACIF wins the VendeeGlobe 2012-2013. 

Francois Gabart  o/b MACIF wins Vendeeglobe 2012-2013

In a Video it looks like below, 

Vendée Globe : Le passage de la ligne de... by VendeeGlobeTV

François's victory is with the smallest margin in the history for VG with only 3 hrs, 17 min and  12 seconds; another record broken. 

François made his decisive strategic move in the Southern Atlantic just North of the Falklands, where he moved Norht-Eeast where Armel Le Cléac'h, the later runner-up, moved North-West. After this the distances were like an elastic band between 100-200 Nm. 

François set a series of records but the most important is,

- the fastest VendeeGlobe ever in a record time of 78 days, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 40 seconds; an improvement of the  old record of VG2008 of Michiel Desjoyaux with 6 days, 00 hours and 58 minutes, and 

- he is the youngest winner of any VendeeGlobe with 29 years, - he was fastest from the start to the Equator, 

- he was fastest from the start to rounding Cape of Good Hope,

- he was fastest from the start to rounding Cape Horn,

- he was fastest from Cape of Good Hope till Cape Leeuwing, 

- he was fastest from Cape Leeuwing to Cape Horn, 

- he sailed the longest distance in any 24 hour period with 545 Nm in a monohull, 

François has shown to be a good tactical sailor that keeps smiling all along the way. 

Armel, finished as a second but a long time , those two were battling neck on neck and in the Southern Ocean changed the lead several times. 

Alex Thompson, has continued his route, after JP Dick in his damaged boat had overcome the heaviest winds around the Azoren and has taken the 3rd place with an ETA of Tuesday evening. JP Dick is heading in lower winds to the Portuguese coast and will from there decide to sail on the Les Sable or not.