Paris (AFP)
While the front end of the Vendée Globe fleet is advancing at full speed towards the Doldrums and the Brazilian coast is now moving away, Charlie Dalin (Apivia) and Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2) are almost side to side.
Dalin, in the lead, and his runner-up are only separated at the mid-day check-in by just over 3 nautical miles (about 5 km).
With 3,500 miles from the finish in Les Sables d'Olonne, the leaders, taking advantage of the trade winds and relatively mild weather, are heading towards the Equator at an average of almost 20 knots.
The two leading men, compared to the previous score of 04h00 GMT, nibbled a few miles on their four pursuers.
Ranking Saturday at 11:00 GMT:
1. Charlie Dalin (FRA / Apivia) 3.421.4 miles from the finish
2. Louis Burton (FRA / Bureau Vallée 2) 3.4 miles from the leader
3. Boris Herrmann (GER / Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) 50.9
4. Thomas Rouillard (FRA / LinkedOut) 88.1
5. Damien Seguin (FRA / Apicil Group) 98.1
6. Yannick Bestaven (FRA / Maître Coq IV) 125.3
7. Giancarlo Pedote (ITA / Prysmian Group) 197.7
8. Benjamin Dutreux (FRA / OMIA-Water Family) 248.0
9. Jean Le Cam (FRA / Yes we Cam!) 270.3
10. Maxime Sorel (FRA / V And B Mayenne) 594.8
11. Armel Tripon (FRA / L'Occitane en Provence) 1.090.1
12. Clarisse Cremer (FRA / Banque Populaire X) 1,218.6
13. Romain Attanasio (FRA / Pure-Best Western) 1,351.3
14. Jérémie Beyou (FRA / Charal) 2,068.0
15. Alan Roura (SUI / La Fabrique) 2.148.6
16. Arnaud Boissières (FRA / La Mie Câline-Artisans Artipôle) 2,176.0
17. Pip Hare (GBR / Medallia) 2,498.9
18. Stéphane Le Diraison (FRA / Time For Oceans) 2.864.2
19. Didac Costa (ESP / One Planet One Ocean) 2.894.8
20. Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN / DMG Mori Global One) 3,021.0
21. Manuel Cousin (FRA / Sétin Group) 3,399.6
22. Miranda Merron (GBR / Campagne de France) 3,910.8
23. Clément Giraud (FRA / Compagnie du lit-Jiliti) 3,933.3
24. Alexia Barrier (FRA / TSE-4myplanet) 5,650.7
25. Ari Huusela (FIN / Stark) 5,911.7
26. Sébastien Destremau (FRA / Merci) 7,942.7
Let's give up:
Alex Thomson (GBR / Hugo Boss)
Kevin Escoffier (FRA / PRB)
Samantha Davies (GBR / Initiatives-Cœur)
Isabelle Joschke (GER / MACSF)
Sébastien Simon (FRA / Arkéa-Paprec)
Nicolas Troussel (FRA / Corum L'Epargne)
Fabrice Amedeo (FRA / Newrest-Art and Windows)
© 2021 AFP