Le Cam takes the lead

Triple Solitaire du Figaro winner overhauls PRB in Vendee Globe

Positions at 1500GMT

Pos	Boat	DTL	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs
					Instant		4hr aver
1	BONDUELLE	0.0	19 52.48' N	21 33.64' W	11.8	172	11.1	183.0
2	PRB	1.6	19 52.96' N	22 02.92' W	8.1	196	10.3	204.0
3	VMI	24.5	20 16.28' N	22 03.92' W	9.0	216	9.7	205.0
4	HUGO BOSS	27.0	20 21.88' N	22 02.84' W	6.3	196	8.8	207.0
5	SILL ET VEOLIA	49.9	20 42.88' N	22 11.00' W	1.3	132	8.5	192.0
6	ECOVER	76.3	21 12.68' N	22 38.32' W	9.4	170	6.7	178.0
7	SKANDIA	152.8	22 13.96' N	20 45.88' W	12.3	189	11.6	187.0
8	VM MATERIAUX	155.3	22 18.36' N	20 56.48' W	12.2	193	12.4	207.0
9	VIRBAC-PAPREC	179.7	22 47.80' N	21 25.56' W	13.0	198	10.8	208.0
10	TEMENOS	180.4	22 50.76' N	21 41.20' W	12.3	218	9.7	202.0
11	ARCELOR DUNKERQUE	196.8	23 14.12' N	22 39.72' W	11.3	187	11.6	187.0
12	PRO-FORM	247.5	23 47.96' N	20 32.08' W	9.0	216	10.2	212.0
13	HELLOMOTO	250.7	23 24.32' N	18 29.64' W	12.9	208	12.4	210.0
14	UUDS	270.5	24 14.52' N	20 50.68' W	11.1	199	13.2	196.0
15	OCEAN PLANET	306.9	24 20.08' N	18 19.32' W	8.4	212	11.1	213.0
16	ROXY	457.0	26 31.36' N	16 46.28' W	10.0	210	10.5	203.0
17	MAX HAVELAAR BEST WESTERN	480.6	27 30.92' N	19 11.28' W	9.3	200	10.7	211.0
18	AKENA VERANDAS	483.2	27 33.32' N	19 10.16' W	12.2	210	11.4	202.0
19	BENEFIC	516.8	28 13.76' N	19 43.20' W	11.7	200	11.6	200.0
20	BROTHER	657.9	29 19.36' N	14 21.80' W	10.1	268	9.6	245.0

The latest positions show that Vincent Riou on PRB has lost the lead to Jean le Cam on Bonduelle. Le Cam, a three time winner of the highly competitive Solitaire du Figaro, has been taking a more easterly course than his rivals and has been consistently sailing faster than them today. Le Cam has spent the last few years sailing 60ft trimarans, so maybe he is using some of his skill from this, sailing hot angles at speed rather sticking to the direct course.

"I can't complain," le Cam said earlier. "I slept for at least six hours. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for at least five days. For the moment, I’ve got a little wind, but I won’t be doing anything too clever. For the time being, this race is one for you, then one for me. I’ve just had my turn now!"

Vincent Riou now in second gave his views: "I don’t have any other choice, but it’s not very nice to be in front in such wind conditions. Early last night, things were difficult and I came to a halt for two to three hours, which allowed the other boats to catch me up. We’re not yet out of the buffer zone between the north-easterlies from the start and the Trades, but we should be this evening. The Trades won’t be very strong either, so it looks like quiet weather until the Doldrums."

The latest positions show that Mike Golding on Ecover is gradually making progress east but has lost further ground on the front runners of the lead group.

The leaders are expected to pick up the northeasterly flow of the Trade Winds when they kick in later this evening.

On Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson has made a successful foray to the masthead again to unhook the spinnaker halyard that had jumped from its sheave. Hugo Boss has been sailing with a semi-hoisted, but socked spinnaker for the last three days. Now that the halyard is free, Thomson is going to have to return to masthead to check if any further repairs need to be made.