Paris (AFP)

Vendée Globe leader Charlie Dalin maintained a lead of around 20 nautical miles on Friday noon over runner-up Louis Burton, while three skippers were fighting a close battle for third place.

At the head of the fleet, which sails off the eastern tip of Brazil, the skipper of Apivia is 19.3 nm (35.7 km) ahead of Bureau Vallée.

Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) retains the third place won on the night of Thursday to Friday, 38.9 nm (72 km) from Dalin, but Thomas Rettant (LinkedOut) and Damien Seguin (Apicil Group) are in ambush within 15 nm.

A little over 3,800 theoretical miles from the finish, the five leading men are all sailing at speeds close to 14 knots.

Ranking Friday at 12:00 (11:00 GMT):

1. Charlie Dalin (FRA / Apivia) 3,809.4 miles from the finish

2. Louis Burton (FRA / Bureau Vallée 2) 19.3 miles behind the leader

3. Boris Herrmann (GER / Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) 38.9

4. Thomas Rouillard (FRA / LinkedOut) 45.7

5. Damien Seguin (FRA / Apicil Group) 52.6

6. Yannick Bestaven (FRA / Maître Coq IV) 97.0

7. Benjamin Dutreux (FRA / OMIA-Water Family) 162.1

8. Giancarlo Pedote (ITA / Prysmian Group) 183.0

9. Jean Le Cam (FRA / Yes we Cam!) 226.9

10. Maxime Sorel (FRA / V And B Mayenne) 541.9

11. Armel Tripon (FRA / L'Occitane en Provence) 923.5

12. Clarisse Cremer (FRA / Banque Populaire X) 959.3

13. Romain Attanasio (FRA / Pure-Best Western) 1,188.7

14. Jérémie Beyou (FRA / Charal) 2,057.8

15. Alan Roura (SUI / La Fabrique) 2,112.9

16. Arnaud Boissières (FRA / La Mie Câline-Artisans Artipôle) 2,146.0

17. Pip Hare (GBR / Medallia) 2,271.0

18. Didac Costa (ESP / One Planet One Ocean) 2,751.4

19. Stéphane Le Diraison (FRA / Time For Oceans) 2,754.5

20. Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN / DMG Mori Global One) 2,830.4

21. Manuel Cousin (FRA / Sétin Group) 3,197.2

22. Miranda Merron (GBR / Campagne de France) 3,896.9

23. Clément Giraud (FRA / Compagnie du lit-Jiliti) 3,931.0

24. Alexia Barrier (FRA / TSE-4myplanet) 5.512.5

25. Ari Huusela (FIN / Stark) 5,786.0

26. Sébastien Destremau (FRA / Merci) 7,460.4

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Alex Thomson (GBR / Hugo Boss) Retirement

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Kevin Escoffier (FRA / PRB) Withdrawal

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Samantha Davies (GBR / Initiatives-Cœur) Abandonment

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Isabelle Joschke (GER / MACSF) Withdrawal

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Sébastien Simon (FRA / Arkéa-Paprec) Withdrawal

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Nicolas Troussel (FRA / Corum L'Epargne) Withdrawal

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Fabrice Amedeo (FRA / Newrest-Art and Windows) Abandonment

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© 2021 AFP