Though a report was sent by his Cheminées Poujoulat team last night indicating that Bernard Stamm was nearly ready to leave his anchorage off Dunedin, NZ and rejoin the race after making repairs, the Swiss skipper, who has been protested by the Race Committee, was still stopped early this morning. The actions which took place when he went alongside a Russian survey vessel in the Auckland Islands in adverse weather conditions in a tight anchorage are the subject of the protest hearing. It is investigating whether outside assistance, contrary to the strict race rules, took place. Fiftes in the 50’s….Le Cam accelerates Conditions have been pretty tough for the vastly experienced Jean Le Cam who leads the group of ‘Fifties in the 50’s’ on SynerCiel. Le Cam, 53, had visibly slowed through yesterday and had complained of the robust sea state but his more direct course to the north of the tracks of Mike Golding (Gamesa) and Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud) sees the French skipper sailing significantly quicker, riding the low pressure system whilst his pursuers are on the back of it and may run the risk of falling off. After repositioning to the north slightly and losing some miles in lighter airs, Spain’s Javier Sanso – 300 miles behind Mirabaud - looks set to have Acciona 100% Eco Powered back in stronger NW’ly winds today. Photo Credit: Jean-Marie Liot/DPPI/Vendée Globe
Jean-Pierre Dick and Alex Thomson have been reeling off relatively fast miles as they benefit from strong W’ly and NW’ly winds which are allowing them a much more direct, straight course towards the final safety gate of the course. Forced south by an awkward transition zone of slack winds, race leader Le Cléac’h and Gabart make only modest speeds. With some 300 miles to make to the Pacific West gate Le Cléach is ahead of Gabart by just 12.7 miles this morning, the pair making between 13 and 15kts in light N’ly winds. Their speeds have risen slightly but their losses to their pursuers are expected to continue. Dick has reduced his margin to the leader by 180 miles in 24 hours and was down to 460 miles behind Banque Populaire. Briton Thomson, recovering 170 miles over that same period, is about 850 miles behind.
Arnaud Boissieres (Akena Verandas), sixth in the last edition of the Vendée Globe, must have expected to be higher up the fleet at this stage, but the skipper from Arcachon has been delivering some impressively quick 24 hour runs recently. He has just passed Stamm and so is up to ninth place and is 450 miles from the New Zealand gate. Bertrand de Broc (Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM Projects) passed into the Pacific at 21:55hrs last night.
In Abanca ORC 0, Vudu arrivava all'ultima prova con un margine di nove punti e non ha lasciato spazio alle sorprese. Il TP52 di Mauro Gestri ha chiuso secondo l'ultima regata, risultato sufficiente per mettere definitivamente le mani sulla Copa del Rey
Al Circolo Vela Arco è iniziata la grande festa internazionale dell’Optimist. Tre prove nella prima giornata con vento da sud fino a 16 nodi
C'è sempre Vudu di Mauro Gestri in testa in ORC 0 dopo una giornata estremamente regolare con due secondi posti
Valerio Pucci firma una tripletta e balza al comando tra i Cadetti. Tra gli Juniores lo sloveno Mihael Zobec resta leader, mentre l’italiana Annalie Meoni sale al quarto posto assoluto
Tre prove combattute davanti alla spiaggia di Levante con circa 12 nodi di vento. Riccardo Basso vince l’Overall e il Trofeo Challenge. Bene anche i giovani della Scuola Vela del Circolo Nautico Santa Margherita
Le due finali della Gold Fleet ribaltano il podio Juniores: lo spagnolo Miguel Echavarri vince davanti allo statunitense Ryan Lee e allo spagnolo Luca Nueschen. Tra i Cadetti successo dello svizzero Carlo Milan davanti all’italiano Valerio Pucci
Da Cowes è scattata la 50ª edizione della grande regata organizzata dal Royal Ocean Racing Club
In testa c’è il Volvo 70 Pace di Johnny Vincent, che procede intorno agli otto nodi mantenendo una rotta relativamente vicina alla costa della Cornovaglia. Alle sue spalle il Ker 56 Varuna 6 di Jens Kellinghusen e il Mach 50 Palanad 4 di Antoine Magre
Una nuova divisione dedicata alle imbarcazioni il cui primo varo della serie è antecedente al 1990. La novità entra ufficialmente nel programma della CentoMiglia del Garda 2026
Nelle ultime 24 ore Pace ha percorso circa 428 miglia, con una media prossima ai 18 nodi: un'autentica prestazione da record