At sea (AFP)

The self-proclaimed “grandpa” of the Vendée Globe, the Frenchman Jean Le Cam, is still in the lead on Saturday at midday, just ahead of the Briton Alex Thomson, while the fallen favorite Jérémie Beyou arrived in Les Sables d'Olonnes at 1:10 pm (12:10 GMT) to make repairs.

At 61, Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam!) Is still leading the way on the sixth day of racing, on his thirteen year old boat.

He emerged from tropical storm Theta in front of new generation ships equipped with 'foilers', capable of flying, like that of his first pursuer, the Welshman Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), 46 years old.

For his fifth solo round-the-world non-stop race, the skipper gained ground during a stormy night, in seas made difficult by crossing the center of the low, while he was in Thomson's wake before entering it.

"My God, Jean is incredible, incredible!" Exclaimed the Briton on Saturday morning, coming out of a night when he had to face hollows of more than six meters and gusts reaching 60 knots.

"To be where he is, at 61 and with this boat, it's remarkable, just brilliant!"

Jean Le Cam confided on Friday that he had no illusions and expected "to see them slip away, the foilers."

"But as long as we do, grandpa is resisting!"

For now, he's doing even better than resisting.

- Race against the clock for Beyou -

Another race begins for the one who was the big favorite at the start on Sunday.

Jérémie Beyou (Charal) arrived at the port of Sables d'Olonne (Vendée) on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. (12:10 GMT) where his teams were waiting for him to make repairs and allow him to get back to sea as quickly as possible.

Victim of severe damage after hitting an ofni (unidentified floating object) on Wednesday, the skipper was forced to turn around and will have until November 18, 2:20 p.m. to set off again, as provided for in the regulations.

Behind the two experienced leaders, the Frenchman Benjamin Dutreux (OMIA - Water Family), of which this is the first Vendée Globe, is doing well and completing the podium, 37.8 miles behind Le Cam.

The Briton Samantha Davies (Initiatives - Coeur), in ninth position and shifted to the west, whose morale is high after having "escaped the tropical depression", said Saturday morning "super happy", and succeeds for the moment to manage his race without encountering too many problems: "The worst disaster is the tin of sardines which exploded in a bag of food!", she smiles.

© 2020 AFP