With around 800 miles to pass the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa the leaders pace remains consistently high. Best through the night has been Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) who is up to third place making a few small miles during the night. And while the leaders are largely hanging on to their speeds, some are making small modulations to their attack to sustain the high averages and maybe slightly reduce the risk. Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) said the same a couple of days ago and Paul Meilhat in ninth on Biotherm explains some of his prudent principles,

“I really try to always sail with the same intensity with a fairly stable average speed and a tight trajectory, because that's what's interesting over time to preserve the equipment and not make mistakes and establish a bit of an operating routine. It's certain that for a few days now we've been at more than 20 knots all the time. 20 knots on these boats is a bit of a limit: below that, the boat is ultra comfortable, life on board is super easy, and then when you go over 20 knots, it's immediately a bit different, especially when you go over 24, 25 knots, where the boat still has acceleration phases, it takes off a bit, it falls back down, so there you go, it makes movements a bit harder to take, so life on board is a bit more complicated for everything: to do the weather, to eat, to move around... but it's sure that there's still a day or two like that, and after that it's going to change a bit because we're all going to find ourselves in different conditions, the fleet is going to split up a bit I think and that's going to change the philosophy of the race a bit.”

I really try to always sail with the same intensity with a fairly stable average speed and a tight trajectory, because that's what's interesting over time to preserve the equipment and not make mistakes and establish a bit of an operating routine

Meilhat, who raced his boat in the south during The Ocean Race, adds, “Allowing yourself some rest is what I favour as much as possible, sleep. So I try to take a few naps during the day when I can, even if it's harder to fall asleep during the day, but I take a few naps at night too, it depends. As soon as the conditions are really stable, I really try to sleep as much as possible, and I've managed at times to extend my sleep time a little and not just be in 20-minute nap mode, but start to extend the cycles a little, so I don't feel too tired. Beyond that, it's true that we don't move much, so when we do a maneuver, which is a bit rare, we realize that we're a bit rusty anyway, and a bit tired. I try to stay in shape and be careful! But it's okay, compared to what we're going to have, I think these are still fairly calm conditions, and like everything, we get used to it. But it's true that we can't do much really anyway! A bit of current affairs reading, but I haven't listened to any music or podcasts, it's quite noisy as an environment, after that it's quite cool, the weather is nice, we also enjoy the sea even if it's a bit monotonous, there are no marine animals in this area, no birds, not too many flying fish in the southern hemisphere, I can't wait to see the first albatrosses in a few days!”

And reviewing the weather, Meilhat explains, “We are still very lucky to have what we have so we're making the most of it, going straight like this from Brazil to the Cape of Good Hope, it's still not often, so you have to make the most of it! It’s very capitalist: the richest are richer and the poorest are poorer. The boats in front of me are going to get ahead, that's a bit hard to accept, after that I'm still happy to be here because I'm not too far behind, after that we'll see how it goes next. We start to look at the weather in the Indian Ocean in a week, there are strong winds at Kerguelen, will it happen exactly like that? It could redistribute the cards a little, I try not to be too late anyway compared to the group in front, on the other hand if I can have a good lead on those behind that would be cool! But it is sure that the depression will overtake us, I think in 24 hours, a little more, behind there is no more wind so those who have not managed to reach the South will fall into the Saint Helena anticyclone and be slowed.” 

I haven't listened to any music or podcasts, it's quite noisy as an environment, after that it's quite cool, the weather is nice, we also enjoy the sea even if it's a bit monotonous, there are no marine animals in this area, no birds, not too many flying fish in the southern hemisphere, I can't wait to see the first albatrosses in a few days!

The little posse led by Sam Davies (Initiatives Cœur) is still holding on at the back of the depression not so 15th placed Romain Attanasio (Fortinet-Best Western) who has been forced to head due east to maintain his speed. Behind him the course trails are starting to appear more random, a sign of a certain instability. Witness Justine Mettraux (Teamwork-Team SNEF) in 13th and Isabelle Joshke (MACSF) in 19th who are working hard to stay fast making many sail changes. 

SUPER TIGHT, AND RICH IN THEIR OWN WAY

For the daggerboard boats it is incredibly close between Louis Duc (Fives Group - Lantana environnement), Violette Dorange (Devenir), Eric Bellion (Stand as One-Altavia) and Jean Le Cam (Tout commence en Finistère) who are all within four or five miles of each other after 17 nights of racing. The speeds may be half that of the leaders but it is just as close and competitive. Hard to believe that they subscribe to Paul Meilhat’s "It's very capitalist the richest are richer and the poorest are poorer!" attestation this morning as even if they are slower they for sure feel rich in terms of their experience and level of competition, not least benchmarking themselves against King Jean, Le Cam being Le Cam, doing what he does best at the age of 65. 

And so too, does China’s Jingkun Xu feel poor? No he has a richness of spirit which is probably unmatched in the fleet. He is at one with his boat which he has a unique bond with. He lived on it originally and has done much of the maintenance work himself, literally knowing every nut and bolt. 

“ It's been two weeks since I left, and I feel like time is passing very quickly. My state of mind is very good: I take each day seriously and I fully appreciate each moment. So far, these first days seem very pleasant to me compared to the qualifying races of the last three years. It even seems much too easy until now: the wind is favorable, the boat is in good condition, the weather conditions are perfect, and at least until now, it allows me to have an excellent experience on this Vendée Globe!”

My state of mind is very good: I take each day seriously and I fully appreciate each moment.

AT ONE 

Jacky adds, “Before the race, we spent a lot of time preparing and checking the boat. Thanks to all that, the condition of my boat is rather good, even very good. So far, I haven't had any major problems, and the boat accompanies me without any worries towards the South. This allows me to live a very nice racing experience, but with a boat like an IMOCA, bad management can easily ment cause problems on the road, so I spend a lot of time every day checking the boat, I monitor everything to be able to detect small defects to be able to resolve them before they become big problems. This requires a lot of vigilance and work in everyday life.”

“So far, these first days seem very pleasant to me compared to the qualifying races of the last three years. It even seems much too easy up to now: the wind is favorable, the boat is in good condition, the weather conditions are perfect, and at least up to now, this allows me to have an excellent experience on this Vendée Globe!”

“Over the next few days, I will continue to go down towards the South, to quickly find a depression, then I will take advantage of this Westerly wind to get as close as possible to the Cape of Good Hope. Everything is going very well, everything is perfect so far!”: