Jean Le Cam, at 65 the oldest and most experienced skipper among the 39 solo racers still competing, leads the Vendée Globe singlehanded non-stop race around the world as the tenth edition completes its first week at sea tomorrow Sunday.

The six times Vendée Globe starter seems to have benefited from radical easterly option which is allowing him to get south more directly and quicker than his rivals. Racing the newest boat in the fleet, a non-foiling David Raison design which has modern daggerboards rather than foils, Le Cam took the lead yesterday night, but this evening his option sees him in very light winds making less than five knots. 

 

Extreme

The ‘Crazy Kiwi’ Conrad Colman is going even more extreme, even further east and this evening only 170 miles off Africa’s Western Sahara coast. Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) is the best of the main, central group whilst many of the established favourites are well down the ranking, like Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) in 34th and Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) 26th as they reposition towards the west where they think the corridor of new breeze will open to allow them to get south. 

 

And so with six days of racing completed, 1,600 nautical miles covered (2964kms) and more than a third of the fleet are within a radius of 150 miles. These large areas of light wind are blocking the course at the head of the fleet and whilst the boats in the west picked up speed and were making 12-14kts this morning it proved to be a false dawn and they are slow again today. 

 

“It was a nice surprise but really I just try to focus on my race on making the right decisions, this is a long, long race.”

"We've been racing for six days, it's a round the world race and here we are all even, all more are less equal” smiled Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) on the French live show this afternoon. “We're almost enjoying a complete new start." 

 

"The speeds are going to yo-yo," explains the race’s weather consultant Christian Dumard. "They're going to move forwards well then stalls then advance then stop. There will be a lot of changes of pace, manoeuvres, it's going to be a very stressful day." 

 

A first Italian first….

Italy’s Giancarlo Pedote maybe became first Italian skipper ever to lead the Vendée Globe in a transient phase yesterday on his IMOCA Prysmian, “It was a nice surprise but really I just try to focus on my race on making the right decisions, this is a long, long race.” He said. Asked about the ‘Le Cam’ optio, he responded, “It's going to be interesting to see if he pulls it off.” 

 

He continues, "I was lucky to have a wind corridor in the center that allowed me to catch up with the others but now nothing is decided, we don't know yet if the West option will prove more profitable."

 
If I look rested, it's because I am wearing a mask. I can't say more than that, it's supplied by the Italian secret service…

The general slowdown also benefits Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou). The Chinese skipper was a long way behind, nearly 500 miles already at one point. But in recent days, the Chinese skipper has regained nearly 200 miles on the head of the fleet. He is enjoying good conditions (15 knots of wind, no more than 2 meters of sea) and is 290 miles behind the leaders. Further back Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe), is gradually emerging from the strong depression and heading to the shelter of the Canary Islands to try and make some kind of repairs to his sail set up

 

If the race turns into a war of nerves, most of the sailors are doing everything they can to keep their sense of humour intact Pedote jokes, 

Image: Jean Le Cam: Photo LOIC VENANCE / AFP