The situation in Les Sables d’Olonne may have calmed down since the finish of Vincent Riou, Jean Le Cam and Mike Golding but for Dominique Wavre (Temenos) and Sébastien Josse (VMI), who currently positioned 350 miles west of Cape Finisterre, things could not be much more exciting.

The duo will be entering the Bay of Biscay tomorrow (Sunday) and the current struggle for fourth place is breathtaking. It ranks up there with the duel between Vincent Riou (PRB) and Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle), which was being fought out at the same point in the race. Only 42 miles currently separate the two opponents. And They should reach Les Sables d’Olonne on Monday evening or by Tuesday morning at the latest.

Since yesterday evening, Dominique Wavre (Temenos) has finally been able to get on direct course to the finish thanks to a 12-15 knot northerly flow. The ridge of high pressure, where all he could do was sit it out patiently, is now behind him. Positioned upwind from his rival, the Swiss sailor with six round the world voyages under his belt is not yet in a position to keep the youngest competitor Sébastien Josse (VMI) under check. Quite the reverse is true as Sébastien, forty miles or so further south, is hoping to be the first to pick up the new wind that is expected tomorrow evening. It should be coming from the south-east, so from his side. Once again, as the funnel closes with Les Sables d’Olonne now less than 700 miles ahead, their positions will be as important or even more important than the distance to the finish. In general, we can say that for the 10 competitors left in the race, the wind is not getting much above 15 knots. A calm start for the weekend, but the Vendée Globe yachtsmen are busy getting ready to enter their ninetieth day at sea today at lunchtime.

The outstanding news this morning is the duel between Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) and Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto). Both are in seventh position 2,107 miles from the finish.

Having to make do without his solent, the foresail that is used to head into the wind, when it is blowing at less than 18 knots, Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) knew he was going to suffer in the climb back up the North Atlantic. Like clockwork, the Plymouth-based yachtsman Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) is on his coat tails to be equidistant from the finish this morning in the rankings.

The next time their positions are announced, Conrad should have grabbed 7th place for the first time since the start, as he is sailing faster than his rival. We should add that following his stopover for rudder repairs in South Africa, the skipper of Hellomoto was for a while at the rear end of the fleet. A fantastic comeback, which is likely to go no further, as Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec) in sixth place is a whopping 762 miles ahead of him.