The group chasing Michel Desjoyeaux have been waiting for an opportunity to gain after the past few days’ drag race — could this be it?

Foncia, along with second-placed Veolia Environment, is currently being slowed by a high pressure zone which has been building to the east of Campbell Island.

What’s more, things look set to get no more straightforward for the leaders, with a low pressure system in the Cook Straits moving towards the south. 

If there is a halfway point in the ever-changing line around the globe that the Vendée Globe skippers are tracking along, then with around 11,500 miles to go the leaders have now passed it.

But after 42 days at sea, and 12 retirements, the battle at the front of the fleet is still as white-hot as ever.

Overnight, race leader Michel Desjoyeaux passed the tip of New Zealand’s south island and now has just three gates — New Zealand, West and East Pacific — between him and Cape Horn. Foncia is still sailing at speeds of around 17 knots, a pace even the leading group of Jourdain (Veolia Environment), Josse (BT) and Le Cam (VM Matériaux) are struggling to keep up with.

There was a collective sigh of relief across the Vendée Globe fleet this morning, with the news that Yann Elies, who had broken his left femur two days ago on Generali, had been successfully picked up by the Australian Navy frigate, the HMAS Arunta.

Every skipper in this morning’s live radio broadcast expressed their excitement at the news, none more so than Marc Guillemot, who had been standing by Elies and gave a first-hand account of the rescue live on air.