In a video on the race website, the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild assures that “the last few days have been difficult” along Brazil, as he approaches the equator in his climb towards the line arrival in Brest.
“The weather was getting worse day by day, forcing us to make a lot of effort for little gain at the finish. The wind conditions were changeable, the boat demanding, the sea, the wind irregular… I couldn’t get the boat to move forward!” explained the navigator, who has been in the lead since the descent of the South Atlantic .
Charles Caudrelier will move closer to the coast and pass the Horn of Brazil before entering the Doldrums, a very unstable weather zone, from Wednesday evening. He is 1,600 miles ahead of Armel Le Cléac’h (2nd) and 2,000 miles ahead of Thomas Coville (3rd) who continues to follow the coast of Argentina.
Ranking Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. Paris (GMT 1):
1. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Charles Caudrelier) 3,897 nautical miles from the finish
2. Maxi Banque Populaire XI (Armel Le Cléac’h) 1,616 miles from the first
3. Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville) at 2,026 miles
4. Actual Ultim 3 (Anthony Marchand) at 5,746 miles
5. Adagio (Eric Péron) at 6,739 miles
Abandon: SVR-Lazartigue (Tom Laperche)