Jean Le Cam remains in the lead. The dean of the competition, who competes under the label It all starts in Finistère – Armor-Lux, retains its position as leader of the Vendée Globe after the 7 p.m. score this Saturday evening. Located between the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, the fleet is divided into three groups.
Le Cam, aged 65, chose the eastern option followed by only one competitor, Conrad Colman (MS Amlin). A second group with many favorites heads west while a third is located in the middle of the two options at the opposite ends.
Le Cam, which is taking part in this race for the sixth time, chose after passing the island of Madeira the option of moving east along the Mauritanian coast. The Frenchman jumped from tenth to first place during the night from Friday to Saturday, well into this solo journey around the world.
“We are all equal”
“Of course we look at Jean’s option, it will be interesting to see if he comes out of it,” observed the Italian Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian), fourth. Le Cam is 8.44 miles ahead of Sébastien Simon (Dubreuil Group), who rose in twelve hours from 8th to 2nd place. Simon acts as leader for the “middle” boats of the fleet.
“We’ve been racing for six days, it’s a global regatta and we’re all equal. We are almost experiencing a new beginning,” summarized the latter. For his part, Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur-Duo for a job) completes the provisional podium 16.86 miles from Le Cam.
The supporters of the west, after having led the race for a while, stumbled upon a zone of weak wind which led to a regrouping, like Sam Goodchild, falling from 6th place to 12th place in half a -daytime. The group of ex-leaders, very compact after the equivalent of nearly 3,000 km covered, should however catch some wind during the night from Saturday to Sunday, which would allow the sailors to be able to regain speed towards the south and resume the ‘advantage.
At this stage, only one of the 40 entrants has abandoned: Maxime Sorel (V and B-Monbana-Mayenne), injured an ankle and who had diverted to Madeira to repair a part of his boat.
The 2024 Vendée Globe rankings at 7 p.m. on Saturday November 16:
1. Jean Le Cam (It all starts in Finistère – Armor-Lux) 22,628.78 miles from the finish
2. Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) at 8.44 miles
3. Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – Duo for a job) at 16.86 miles
4. Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian) 21.58 miles from the leader
5. Damien Seguin (Apicil Group) at 26.64 miles
6. Alain Roura (Hublot) at 26.68 miles
7. Clarisse Crémer (L’Occitane en Provence) at 30.59 miles
8. Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier) at 35.54 miles
9. Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline) at 36.38 miles.
10. Conrad Colman (MS Amlin) at 35.58 miles
