7.Vendee Globe 2012/13

22.11.2012
12 days, 20 hours. 3,160 miles to the Cape of Good Hope
Golding Crosses Equator for 22nd Time

Gamesa skipper puts Neptune on pause
Top 6 slanting south
Sansó on the charge

Mike Golding http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/12/mike-golding.html (Gamesa) crossed the Equator for the 22nd time as he chased the six leading boats in front of him south to the coast of Brazil.

Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives cœur)

He deferred the traditional celebrations and offerings to Neptune this time because he had a half-hour penalty to complete and he is worried that the gains on the top six that he banked in the Doldrums will be withdrawn in lighter breezes.
"22 is a quite a lot," Golding, who is competing in his fourth consecutive Vendée Globe, said. "I don't think it's that important but it shows how lucky I am." "I'll do something soon (for Neptune)," he said. "I just need a little sleep and then will find one of the bottles of champagne, but to be honest I'd rather a beer. "I'm afraid that is the way of it just now and it will likely continue. The trade winds here are right down a lot, there is not much holding them. My fear is that the mileage to the leaders grows again over the next 4-5 days that it is going to be like this."

Golding completed his 30-minute penalty http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/newswire/4031/seven-boats-given-penalty.html (awarded by the race committee due to a breach of the boundaries in place to prevent collisions in the Finisterre Traffic Separation Scheme) at just before midnight. But Golding, 218 miles behind the leaders, gained ground on Jean Le Cam http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/16/jean-le-cam.html (SynerCiel) and Dominique Wavre http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/15/dominique-wavre.html (Mirabaud) who traded places as they completed their two-hour penalties.

Whatever Golding's fears, the forecast suggests a procession south for the next four days before the leaders can seek the most advantage from the slingshot south in a low pressure system. They will have to get used to one leg being shorter than the other as they reach down the coast of Brazil in 12-13 knot easterlies.

Armel Le Cléac'h http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/1/armel-le-cleac-h.html, (Banque Populaire) slightly extended his lead over Francois Gabart http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/31/francois-gabart.html (Macif) to 49.3 miles and Alex Thomson http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/25/alex-thomson.html> (Hugo Boss), in sixth, is still just 28 miles behind Gabart. Jean-Pierre Dick http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/13/jean-pierre-dick.html (Virbac-Paprec 3), in fifth, completed his 20-minute penalty last night without losing ground.
Javier Sansó http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/article/3431/acciona-100-ecopowered-heading-to-the-canary-islands.html (Acciona 100% EcoPowered), continues to work his way back and is bearing down on Bertrand De Broc http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/47/bertrand-de-broc.html (Votre nom autour du monde). They are both in the doldrums with Sansó now just 9 miles behind. Sansó was still making 12.2 knots in the last hour and could be the biggest winner from the Doldrums. He is just 365 miles behind the leader now, having been 650 miles behind 48 hours ago. But Sansó along with Tanguy de Lamotte http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/51/tanguy-de-lamotte.html (Initiatives cœur), who also had a good night, are the only boats of the six penalised who have not yet taken their penalty of two hours. They have until midnight (French time) of Thursday 22nd to complete them.

PRESS OFFICE Liliane Fretté Communication MEDIA center Tel: +33 (0)1 46 53 53 20 Tel: +33 (0)1 46 53 53 19 FRENCH PRESS pressefrance@vendeeglobe.fr INTERNATIONAL MEDIA intpress@vendeeglobe.fr Skype: sabinamollartrogerson Tel: +33 (0)6 38 62 09 +34 666 759 530

22/11 - 08:00 (UTC)
1 - Armel Le Cléac'h [ Banque Populaire ] + 20,877.4 miles to the finish
2 - François Gabart [ Macif ] +49.3 miles to leader
3 - Berrnard Stamm [ Cheminées Poujoulat ] +57.3 miles to leader
4 - Vincent Riou [ PRB ] +59.4 miles to leader
5 - Jean-Pierre Dick [ Virbac Paprec 3 ] +65.7 miles to leader