Paris (AFP)

Coming out of the terrible Doldrums without having suffered too much, Vendée Globe leader Charlie Dalin and his runner-up Louis Burton go up the North Atlantic on Monday, having chosen different paths in a strategy game ten days before the race. arrival.

The leading duo managed to gain distance from a group of pursuers made up of seven boats, many of which are entangled in the Doldrums (intertropical convergence zone) for lack of winds.

"I was straight and it went well, I was lucky and successful on this one," said Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2) during a session with the PC race.

"It's rather interesting for Charlie (Dalin) and me, we were less penalized than the rest of the fleet. We are a little more ahead of the competitors than when we got into the doldrums" , he continued.

In the standings Monday at midday, Charlie Dalin (Apivia), was leading with 42.6 nautical miles (79 km) ahead of Burton.

The third boat in the fleet is the one helmed by Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil), with some 110 nm (203 km) behind Dalin.

Thomas Rouillard (LinkedOut), who occupies the fourth position, is virtually very close to Seguin (less than a kilometer) but the two skippers have different routes.

This is also the case with Dalin and Burton.

- To attack -

"The strategic choice has already started," warned Burton, who said he was "on the attack" as much as he could.

The two rivals must enter a depression on Tuesday - which means bad weather - to then pass a ridge (advance of a high pressure between two depressions).

In search of winds to ascend as quickly as possible, the sailors still have many uncertainties ahead of them during the last section of the solo round-the-world non-stop.

Wind, this is what Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) implored on Monday morning, who was advancing at around seven knots (14 km / h) in the doldrums before being heard.

The German won a place in the standings in one morning.

He is now fifth, aboard a boat that seems to be in fairly good condition.

His direct pursuer cannot say the same.

Leader for almost a month before releasing the reins a week ago, Yannick Bestaven announced that he had damaged his boat.

"There are a lot of difficult things for me at the moment. Since Cape Horn, I have a lot of technical problems with the boat, I prefer to say it today, I thought I could hide it a bit", said Bestaven Monday noon.

"During the passage to Cape Horn, I had a big depression, I had a huge planted, which swept the entire foredeck of the boat, I no longer have a balcony, any more furling, some sails including I can no longer help myself. I tried to repair as best as possible ", lamented the Rochelais, who thought" to be able to play the leading roles until the end ".

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