Vendee Globe - 1630 - 24/1/01

Race director Philippe Jeantot summarises the action

Radio Chat
Thomas Coville (Sodébo) : "One windless night! I've just got a touch more wind now. I've managed to get myself further North and I'm putting in some East in my route. Dominique Wavre has passed ahead of me now, 60 miles I think. It's proving to be a real regatta. There's not a great deal of exit lanes here. Michel stayed a good 4 ­5 days in the jam but we might well be caught up for longer. The anticyclone is starting to re-form. The only boat, which succeeded in passing through, is Kingfisher. Ellen has sailed a perfect route. I'm anxious about not getting stuck, about catching even the slightest breeze, you have to be at the end of the sheet all the time."

Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) : "I've got going again, but the other thing is that she has too! I was expecting bigger distances at the exit. I'm getting my beautiful kevlar staysail out of the hold ­ my last secret weapon. Ellen has found herself in nearly the same conditions as me and the distance between us won't change much before the Doldrums. I have to get the advantage in the Doldrums seeing as Ellen has taken 500 miles off me since Cape Horn. If the situation is simple, even if it's by 1 mile or 20 metres, that'll be fine. If it's complex, it will be a new start again. My knowledge after seven Figaro seasons, as far as managing my sleep and time on the boat has served me well up until now. I need to go and exploit that training now as my nearest rival is less than 100 miles behind!"

Didier Mundutéguy (DDP/60eme Sud): "I'm 3,000 miles from Cape Horn so I should pass in 15 days ­ well someone's got to bring up the rear! Here it's a pretty desolate and somber place. I've never been this far South, it's not so inspiring, that's for sure. The first skippers doing the Vendée Globe went as far South as 62 or 65 degrees ­ something else in terms of ambiance!"

Dominique Wavre (Union Bancaire Privée) : "I'm trying to chase the wind, zigzagging around. Poor Thomas must have even less wind than me! I stayed in a Easterly breeze for longer. But both of us have been stuck in this for a few days. Even with the current I started creeping backwards and had to furl the genoa so as not to damage it. You just have to keep helming and steering non-stop in hope of reaching some wind. PRB and Kingfisher are going to quickly put another 200 miles or more between us. It looks like we'll be match-racing in pairs all the way home."

Patrice Carpentier (VM Matériaux) : "It was the 4th and probably the last time I'll pass Cape Horn. Last time, during the last Vendée, it was definitely the gateway of deliverance. This time, it's a second landmark in the race and the start of the Atlantic leg. I swiftly moved to port tack with 3 reefs in the main sail. I passed around 2010 GMT, 8 miles away, it was beautiful and the sky was charged with lightning. It was the one day in the Southern Ocean where I ended up having the most wind!"

Joé Seeten (Nord Pas de Calais - Chocolats du monde) : "I passed Cape Horn last night but I didn¹t see it. I briefly saw the light house. The sea was quite dangerous. It was full on last night, I had 43 knots of wind. I passed at 0435hrs UT in the South 6 miles from the lighthouse. There was 35 knots from West North West. We were downwind but the sea was big."

Latest positions polled at 0950hrs (UT):

1 PRB Michel Desjoyeaux 4241 0
2 Kingfisher Ellen MacArthur 4329 +88
3 Active Wear Marc Thiercelin 4628 +387
4 Sill Matines & La Potagère Roland Jourdain 4699 +458
5 Union Bancaire Privée Dominique Wavre 4891 +650
6 Sodebo Savourons la Vie Thomas Coville 4926 =685
7 Whirlpool Catherine Chabaud 5574 +1333
8 EBP - Défi PME - Gartmore Josh Hall 6284 +2043
9 Team Group 4 Mike Golding 6599 +2358
10 VM Matériaux Patrice Carpentier 6917 +2676
11 Nord Pas de Calais - Chocolats du Monde Joe Seeten 7055 +2814
12 Aquarelle.com Simone Bianchetti 8581 +4340
13 Aquitaine Innovations Yves Parlier 9765 +5524
14 DDP - 60ème Sud Didier Munduteguy 10114 +5873
15 Wind Pasquale de Gregorio 10537 +6296
16 Modern University for the Humanities Fedor Konyukhov 12613 +8372
NC Voila.fr Bernard Gallay Not Communicated by Argos