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Fleet News

Today, Sunday, January 27, 2013, the world of sailing and yacht racing is preparing for a historic moment. For the first time, two men solo, nonstop and without assistance, will sail around the world in less than 80 days. The legendary duel between François Gabart (MACIF) and Armel Le Cléac'h(Banque Populaire) which has raged unabated since the 10th November will finally be concluded.

Sunday 26th January, François Gabart (MACIF) Vendée Globe is expected to cross the finish line between 10AM and 1PM, 2 to 5 hours before Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire). The tide will allow the boats to enter the canal to Port Olona, Les Sables d'Olonne after 2PM.

Flashed over 15 and 16 knots this last hour, François Gabart (MACIF) and Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) have not finished accelerate, as the wind will freshen. The last few miles that lie ahead will soon put an end to this duel global intensity unprecedented. While Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) is still wondering about the possibilities to continue, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) is about to double. Behind, Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) and Mike Golding (Gamesa) returned that night in the northern hemisphere.

François Gabart (MACIF) in his epistle last night to the race HQ explained that his journey through the centre of the Azores High was wrapped in a beautiful rainbow. The young pretender and race leader has elected to sail around the edge of the high, which should enable him to reach the northern ridge as quickly as possible and gather momentum once again

This is the final hurdle before the tempestuous Bay of Biscay and the final strait into the race finish at Les Sables d'Olonne. The current ETA sees the first two arriving late Saturday night, early Sunday morning.

This is no longer a Royal Way, but rather to llyl Imperial Highway, which continues its fantastic ride to Les Sables d'Olonne.

Benefiting today from severe depression, the leader will leave all his pursuers to several hours or even several days! Overwhelming domination plunging his pursuers in the sense of utter helplessness, especially in the western group yet rich in very good specialists Virtual Regatta, which must now resolve to lower the flag.

Everyone is focused on the variation of the differences between François Gabart and Armel Le Cléac'h. The two leaders eventually get used to the distances sometimes less than ten miles between the two competitors. At the same time, one hundred miles may seem a world. But nearly twenty knots, such as the arrival of les Sables d'Olonne can provide the conditions, it is less than six hours apart.

It happens. Feared by some, expected by others, crossing the ridge that extends into the southwest of the Azores will, gradually slow the two leaders of the Vendée Globe. South Atlantic, between progress and galleys chaotic material, it is far from these tactical considerations. The key is to stay the course.

Princess Yachts International enjoyed yet another successful evening at the annual IPC Marine Media's Motor Boat of the Year Awards where the Princess V39, which has received high praise from the worlds boating media since her launch last year, picked up the coveted title of 'Motor Boat of the Year' for Sportscruisers up to 45ft.

Mike Golding (Gamesa) is just 21 miles behind Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) and on Vendée Globe TV yesterday speculated that Le Cam may be missing a sail. It was not a euphemism – he was not suggesting Le Cam is one sail short of a wardrobe – but questioning why the formidable French sailor was almost four knots slower than Golding overnight and this morning.

Sailing their own match race into the open wilds of the Pacific, the leading duo in the Vendée Globe have begun to extend away again. But not from each other. Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) said he could see Francois Gabart (MACIF), no more than two miles away they passed the Auckland Islands, on the radar overnight. For his part, Gabart sent home a video trying, but not wholly succeeding, to show Le Cléac'h's sails in the distance.

The two did not hesitate as they crossed the Campbell Plateau, with the big rough seas caused by the vertiginous shelf on its western boundary. Le Cléac'h spoke of hand steering through an area where the human touch is more responsive than even these modern autopilots.

Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) may not have made any impression on the 263-mile lead of Francois Gabart (Macif) overnight, but he staunched the losses and south of them the other duels ebbed and flowed. Dick-Thomson, Le Cam-Golding and the trio Wavre-Boissières-Sansó are all locked in battle. In the Pacific, De Broc-De Lamotte are living their last day on the largest ocean in the world and gap between the two continues to decrease. They look like forming a new duet as the begin the long climb up the Atlantic, adding a little suspense for the final weeks of the race.

Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) is reaping the rewards of his choice to ascend the South Atlantic along the coast of Brazil and is gaining ground by every position report. Now only 6 miles separates him and current third place Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3). Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) has elected to tackle the St Helena High by going upwind in 15-20 knots in conditions not dissimilar to the leading boats. At the equator, in less than a week, their paths should converge at the equator and they could find themselves side by side.

The relationship between Heesen Yachts and this Italian designer dates back to the Nineties with the creation of the exterior lines of the splendid 35 metre motor yacht Opus II and more recently with the interior design of two vessels in the 50 metre semi-displacement class.

The pass of the Cape Horn is like a release. Sounds like a cliché, I agree, but it's so true... this feeling of having overcome everything. And for some it's even more so than for others.

Jean Le Cam

 We've known better awakenings. This is what Tanguy De La Motte discovered yesterday morning: the headsails in the water.

Tanguy de Lamotte