Vendee Globe Day 42 Onboard With Charlie, Pip, Thomas, Jeremie, Isabelle

At six weeks into the Vendée Globe, with the leading duo Yoann Richomme, (PAPREC ARKEA), and Charlie Dalin, (MACIF Santé Prévoyance), set to round Cape Horn late tomorrow, fatigue is the constant, gnawing, universal presence. By now the underlying tiredness is never relieved by any number of naps chained together or indeed a longer sleep or two, were the weather to permit.

The leaders have been blessed with a Pacific which has lived up to its name in terms of weather systems and sea states. In their head-to-head tussle, adrenaline fuels their hard driving attack. That said they will look forwards to the ultimate deliverance into the Atlantic and out of the Big South like their best ever Christmas present.

And at current speeds it seems certain that the leader will smash Armel Le Clerk ‘s 2016 record to Cape Horn, set at 47 days and 34 minutes, when he led Alex Thomson round by 23 hours and 8 minutes. Richomme today, is 1200 miles or so ahead of Le Clerk’s pace, and one or other of the flying duo seems set to also set a new mark for the Pacific, Tasmania to Cape Horn, set by François Gabart in 2012, at 14 days 11 hours 8 minutes when he rounded just 65 minutes ahead of Armel Le Clerk during a duel very similar to that of Dalin, and Richomme.