Jean Le Cam sailing his 2004-built Lombard design Bonduelle (pictured left) is going for the kill on his quest to win the Vendee Globe.

Le Cam who led for the majority of the race lost his lead after rounding Cape Horn but this canny yachtsman is clocking up the miles and is now just 51 miles astern of Vincent Riou (PRB). Riou suffered possibly one of his worst 24 hours of the race losing out not only to Le Cam but also to Mike Golding who is now just over 90 miles away.

Riou can do nothing now except wait for the wind to shift from the north-east to the east and round to the south-east. News this morning shows that the wind seems to be strengthening a little with Le Cam clocking 15.5kt as opposed to Le Cam who’s doing 14.7kts and Golding who’s sailing at 12.6.

Dominique Wavre (Temenos) has broken through Sébastien Josse (VMI) securing fourth place and, having escaped the Doldrums, they are making the most of a decent breeze which is pushing them along at 9-10kts.

Anne Liardet on Roxy is now just 380 miles from the legendary Cape Horn, that she is set to pass on Wednesday evening. Raphaël Dinelli (Akena Vérandas) and Karen Leibovici (Benefic) will still have to wait another three and seven days respectively before they can escape the Southern Ocean and begin their ascent of the Atlantic Ocean.

Rankings as of Tuesday, January 25, 2005 – 04h00 GMT (05:00 AM FR)

1 PRB Vincent Riou 23 35.04′ N 35 07.02′ W 2101.8 miles to the finish

2 Bonduelle Jean Le Cam 20 40.20′ N 32 39.48′ W 2152.8 miles to the finish, 51.0 miles to the leader

3 Ecover Mike Golding 19 12.28′ N 32 17.36′ W 2194.8 miles to the finish, 93.0 miles to the leader

4 Temenos Dominique Wavre 2 46.12′ N 30 05.36′ W 3015.6 miles to the finish, 913.8 miles to the leader

5 VMI Sébastien Josse 2 33.60′ N 29 37.86′ W 3040.2 miles to the finish, 938.4 miles to the leader

6 Virbac-Paprec Jean-Pierre Dick 19 39.42′ S 32 37.62′ W 4361.5 miles to the finish, 2259.7miles to the leader

7 Skandia Nick Moloney 25 14.76′ S 43 57.30′ W 4900.3 miles to the finish, 2798.6 miles to the leader

8 Arcelor Dunkerque Joé Seeten 32 31.96′ S 38 53.24′ W 5192.2 miles to the finish, 3090.4 miles to the leader

9 Hellomoto Conrad Humphreys 37 39.92′ S 43 25.44′ W 5543.8 miles to the finish, 3442.1 miles to the leader

10 Ocean Planet Bruce Schwab 40 48.60′ S 53 30.12′ W 5917.2 miles to the finish, 3815.4 miles to the leader

11 Max Havelaar / Best Western Benoît Parnaudeau 45 58.26′ S 53 03.36′ W 6215.3 miles to the finish, 4113.5 miles to the leader

12 ROXY Anne Liardet 55 57.60′ S 78 23.96′ W 7363.2 miles to the finish, 5261.4 miles to the leader

13 AKENA Vérandas Raphaël Dinelli 54 55.56′ S 86 44.00′ W 7653.5 miles to the finish, 5551.7 miles to the leader

14 Benefic Karen Leibovici 51 17.24′ S 101 46.00′ W 8240.9 miles to the finish, 6139.1 miles to the leader