Among the Imoca (18m monohulls), Charles Dalin (Apivia) kept ahead even if the pack of pursuers was closing in.
Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) was one of them, but he dismasted around 5:00 p.m., race management announced, adding that the skipper was fine.
Within the small fleet of eight Ultims (maxi-trimarans 32m long and 23m wide), Caudrelier took nearly 30 nautical miles ahead of Gabart, who had passed him in the morning.
But he suffered from his choice to go south of the island of San Miguel, when Caudrelier went north.
Thomas Coville (Sodebo), having passed even further north, is now following the same trajectory as Caudrelier, around 50 miles behind, but still with a comfortable lead over the rest of the Ultims.
Far behind, Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) left Lorient at midday after two days of interruptions to repair damage, with the aim of finishing the Route du Rhum, even if his hopes of a podium dwindle. are flown away.
"There is a lot of disappointment in this story but we are not going to give up like that. We are going to finish this Route du Rhum, we are going to have a great adventure", he explained on Saturday in a video on board.
During the last edition, in 2018, he capsized after two days of racing and lost his boat.
Since Thursday evening, his team has been working hard to replace the boat's daggerboard and above all to seal the impacts that the broken daggerboard had caused on the hull.
The vagaries of the race disappointed others on Saturday, especially in Class40: Jonas Gerckens (Volvo), ill, threw in the towel after a series of technical failures and Keni Piperol (Capt'ain Alternance), who had led the dance in the Friday category, had to turn back due to a leak.
© 2022 AFP