Alex Thompson is leading the Vendée Globe.

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JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

Thursday was forecast for a complicated day for the skippers, with the arrival of Theta, the tropical depression generating winds up to 50 knots in its center, but it is this Friday that Man and the weather will be look straight in the eye.

And if most of the competitors took advantage of this relative calm to tinker and repair the small problems on their boats, some still managed some nice strategic shots.

Yes, yes, we are talking about you Mr. Jean Le Cam.

We explain all this to you while you heat the coffee.

The classification at 9 a.m.

Alex Thomson took the lead on the night of Thursday to Friday.

Heading south, he even had the fastest boat in the last few hours.

He is followed by Jean Le Cam and Thomas Rettant.

1. Alex Thomson

2. Jean Le Cam (34 nautical miles from the first)

3. Thomas Rouillard (38 nautical miles from the first)

Strategy paying off for Jean Le Cam

Having a drink when you embark on such an adventure necessarily pays off at one point or another.

During the night from Thursday to Friday, the experienced Jean Le Cam pulled off an almost perfect shot by making the most beautiful “seagull wing” (path chosen to avoid a high pressure) of the entire fleet involved.

Its impeccable trajectory allows it to point in second position during the last score of 9 o'clock.

"Theta" in the viewfinder!



4th in the fleet this morning, APIVIA is preparing to negotiate the big tropical depression in the next few hours. @ CharlieDalin has shifted to the West during the night in order to avoid too strong conditions. # ObjectifVendéeGlobe pic.twitter. com / VRFRUQjKCF

- Apivia Voile - Charlie Dalin (@ApiviaVoile) November 13, 2020

The gaps are widening and there is a risk of further widening

We can already draw a first general picture in this Vendée Globe 2020 with, in the lead, a group of ten boats which are heading headlong towards Theta, with the mission of getting around as best as possible but without wasting too much time this tropical depression whose hot breath is already being felt for the leading men.

Their mission, if they accept it, will be to decrease the sails because the wind picks up and (probably) to jibe in order to shift towards the West to avoid entering the Theta washing machine.

But doing all of this with winds of 25 to 30 knots will not be easy.

Two rooms, two atmospheres

In the middle and back of the pack, it's not the same atmosphere at all.

The skippers are crossing areas of light winds, the gap with the leaders and more generally with the first (big) leading group should continue to widen throughout the day on Friday.

Beyou on the return

A little word about Jérémie Beyou all the same.

The poor man had to put an end to his dreams of victory - and four years of preparation… - after having seriously damaged his rudder.

The Landivisien continues his journey towards Les Sables d'Olonne with good morale.

Contacted yesterday by the Race HQ, Beyou was not even sure she wanted to take to the sea after having gone to the garage.

Conversely, Fabrice Amédéo, who left on the evening of November 10 in Sables d'Olonne after a technical stop, is meanwhile skirting the cliffs of northern Spain on his way to the South.

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