Vendee Monday…: King Jean (Le Cam) and the other leading boats (PRB, Hugo Boss, VMI, Sill) are lining up for the squally, wind-hole pocked Doldrums, which sit just north of the Equator. Best Doldrum passage looks to be at 24/25 degrees west. Daily report here. Position board here. Race favorite Mike Golding went west early to line up for the Doldrums, and paid a massive price as the Trade Winds filled slowly from east to west, dropping him into 6th place as all the boats to his east rocketed ahead. He’s got the better sailing angle going south now, and is gaining some back. But he admits that Le Cam and Vincent Riou have sailed a perfect race so far. The key question is: what will the fleet order be across the Equator. This is the first real “gate” of the course, and is a critical snapshot of where the competitors are relative to one another. The next leg, following the Equator, is the race down the South Atlantic to the Roaring Forties. Whoever gets into the Southern Ocean first will have a big advantage. The Southern Ocean leader frequently wins this race, as long as the boat survives…



Leading Le Cam: “Heh-heh. It’s easy to snag the lead when you’ve snuck some extra crew on board…”