Rhythm of the Race No let up onboard PRB sailing to the finish at 15 knots!

Standings table 

Top 3

1. PRB 40:2 North 16:3 West 
2. Kingfisher 38:5 North 20:4 West 199 miles
3. Sill 31:1 South 30:5 West 876 Miles

Fleet round up section

Michel Desjoyeayx continues running to the finish line and victory at full on pace.  His lead is up to 200 miles with 752 miles left to sail.

Kingfisher has a solid 2nd place over 600 miles ahead of 3rd place Sill.  Sill is 332 miles ahead of Active Wear.  However, at least report Sill has only 2.8 knots of boat speed.  Sill is suffering from a high pressure system.

Sobedo and UBP continue the fleets closest contest.  Sobedo is 3 miles ahead, but UBP the current 24 hour record holder is .4 knots faster.

Group 4 has continued its gains on Gartmore.  Group 4's lead is now 279 miles , combined with a speed advantage Mike Golding must have good feelings.  Josh Hall and Gartmore have been stuck to close to the Brazilian coast.

Skipper Communications

Ellen Macarthur Kingfisher "I saw my first plane since the start during the night, the flashing light a real reminder that civilisation was not so far away - for good or for bad. I would be happy for the race to finish today, but I’m also not sure what will have changed since I left."

Michel Desjoyeaux PRB "We knew before the start that the computers were telling us that we could go round the world in 93 days. Now we are going to do it in 95. The boats have the potential to do it in 90...The boats are high performance machines but you’ve got to arrive and when you see PRB’s state: it would have been hard to go faster. If I had pushed a bit more in the South I would have arrived before the Ste Helena’s high in the South Atlantic and I could have done it in 92 days. But in the Vendée Globe it’s not just the record that is important.

Current Weather High speed tailwinds for the leaders.

Weather Forecast Continued good sailing winds to the finish line.

What does it all mean

1st and 2nd places look locket up.  However, Sill's excursion into a calm patch keeps hope alive for Marc Thiercelin in 4th.