After 93 days of racing on the Vendée Globe there is a head to head, France v Switzerland match race for 17^th place. Racing in near identical Finot Conq IMOCA Stéphane Le Diraison and Alan Roura have been duelling within two miles of each other with just 500 miles to the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne. The duo have past history together, this tussle reprising the end of the 2018 Route du Rhum transatlantic when the young Swiss skipper got the better of his French rival.

Completing the Vendée Globe in fifth place Germany’s Boris Herrmann will be crowned the IMOCA Globe Series champion after maintaining a rich seam of consistent results over the last three years.

Message from Manuel Cousin on Groupe SÉTIN....

Pip Hare writes this morning, "It is relentless out here. Squall after squall. Multiple wind shifts. Waves coming from every direction. Just this second one wave has hit Medallia side on, smashing over the top of the cockpit so water has come down below to where I am sitting, at the same time we are surfing down a wave from behind. It is impossible to stand or move around without holding onto something and going forward in the dark to reef the main I am just crawling on hands and knees.

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