Paris (AFP)

Four days from the finish, according to the estimates of the Vendée Globe management, its leader Charlie Dalin is on all fronts: if the threat Louis Burton seems provisionally contained, the third Boris Herrmann will remain dangerous until Sables d'Olonne ... and even beyond.

The biggest danger in recent days was therefore called Burton.

Returning to less than 10 nautical miles from Dalin (Apivia) on Friday evening, the skipper of Bureau Vallée reaped the benefits of his trajectory much further to the west than that of his competitors.

But like his opponents, as the Azores approached, Burton had to transplant to the east.

And since his strategy - to cover more ground, faster than the rest of the fleet - had forced him to sail to more northern latitudes, he is the first to feel the effects of the new front that is forming.

"I'm starting to feel the forehead that is going to pass over us," said Charlie Dalin's runner-up on Saturday morning at the race site.

"As I am the most northerly, I perceive the effects first. On this last section, it went better for Apivia because it is not yet in the influence of the front", explained Burton.

The consequence in the standings was immediate: between 5:00 am (04:00 GMT) and noon, Dalin's advantage quadrupled to reach 40.5 nautical miles (74.9 km).

- "All is well" for Herrmann -

Better, over the last 24 hours, the 36-year-old skipper has sailed faster than all his direct competitors, at an average of 16.3 knots, or more than 30 km / h.

The native of Le Havre is not, however, at the end of his troubles.

Between five o'clock and noon, the third Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) and the fourth Thomas Rettant (LinkedOut) both regained around ten miles on Dalin.

Distanced 78.1 nm (144.7 km), Herrmann did not stand out with a drastically different course choice - he is sailing slightly west of Dalin.

Her equipment apparently intact, after 75 days at sea, could however give her an advantage over the leader, whose port foil is damaged.

"I haven't slept much, but everything is fine", assured the German on Saturday morning, never a leader since the start of Les Sables d'Olonne but in a position to become the first foreign winner of the Vendée Globe, of which it is the ninth edition.

Big advantage: Herrmann will benefit from six hours of compensation upon arrival, for having participated in the rescue of Kevin Escoffier at the beginning of December.

A joker also available to Yannick Bestaven, fifth at 163 nm from Dalin, credited with ten hours and fifteen minutes for the same reasons.

Despite "a lot of damage to the boat", he judged himself on Saturday "still in the game for a podium".

As for Rouillard, fourth at 106.8 nm, he begins to feel the effects of a long race.

"I feel that I am stiff, I am not going as fast to send my sails, it does not edge as quickly as at the beginning", lists the skipper of LinkedOut.

"But I still have my head firmly in place on what is going on!"

© 2021 AFP