Behind the first five Cape Horners (Bestaven, Dalin, Rettant, Seguin and Dutreux) of this 9th Vendée Globe, 6 IMOCAs grouped together in 150 miles are preparing to finish off the South Seas. At 3:52 pm, Benjamin Dutreux opened the ball for the evening and night passages in front of the lighthouse at the end of the world… in rough conditions.

Charlie Dalin’s return to the forefront will only have lasted for a moment! Yannick Bestaven was well in tune with the arrival of a forming low pressure which he sought far in the North, to “descend” with it to the Antarctic Exclusion Zone (AEZ), and even further.

At the head of the race, the battle rages between Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ IV), leader of the Northern Way, contested by the revolutionary of the Ice Zone, Charlie Dalin (Apivia). The two men are less separated by the miles than by the drawing of the trajectories in which they have ventured.

The seat of the leader, Yannick Bestaven, is not a throne, but rather a rocking chair. All the attention today is on the advance of the skipper of Master CoQ IV along the ice barrier, a virtual line imposed by the Race Direction to limit the encounter of IMOCA with icebergs and growlers.

Forced to brake to repair, Charlie Dalin (Apivia) conceded a lot of ground to Thomas Rettant (LinkedOut), again leader. Just behind, Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ) is on the lookout. Higher up, the hunters navigate on sight and, armed with their cameras, deliver images of this totally incredible moment.