Charles Caudrelier,  skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, race leader of the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest left his Azores weather stopover at 0945hrs UTC this morning, according to race direction. He has just over 1,100 miles to go to the race finish line in Brest where he should take overall victory in the first solo multihull race around the world. The conditions for the remaining miles are expected to be tough. His finish in Brest is expected between Monday and Tuesday.

To many observers and race fans it was surprising to see the race leader stop into Horta in the Azores last Wednesday. But with a substantial lead Caudrelier and the Gitana team elected to be super safe and sit out storm Louis which buffeted the Bay of Biscay. 

"It remains fairly challenging to get to Brest with 25 to 30 knots of wind, gusts of 30 to 35 knots and 6 to 7 meters of sea in the Bay of Biscay," explained Pierre Hays from the race direction this morning. "So actually it is difficult to be able to come up with a precise ETA, we think perhaps between Monday evening and Tuesday morning"

Caudrelier still has a 1446 miles lead ahead of Thomas Coville. When he stopped it was 2100 miles but Coville is on a less direct course to the finsh, routing to the NW to get round the Azores high and come in with the low pressure train.