All to fight for in the Battle of Biscay and where to watch live coverage later today (Vendée Globe update 27Jan21)

There are still five skippers in the match for overall victory in the Vendée Globe.

Charlie Dalin, who is at the top of the rankings, gybed early this morning.

“Now, the further east he goes, the tighter, hotter the angle he sails to the finish,” says Christian Dumard, the race’s weather consultant. “It would not illogical for him to try to get to the finish on the same gybe.”

During the night, Dalin averaged 19.1 knots with peaks regularly above 20 knots. Apivia is expected to finish late this afternoon or early this evening in Les Sables d’Olonne. He’s now within 200 miles of the finish, so his position is updated every thirty minutes on the official tracker.

Boris Herrmann (SeaExplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) has never led the race but has always been close to the frontrunners, is in a similar situation to Dalin. However, the German skipper’s speeds are not as regular, which is also the case for Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2): “We saw speeds varying between 10 and 20 knots over the past few hours,” says Dumard.

Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq IV) has not eased off. He was one of the skippers who opted for a strategy taking them a long way north over the past few days. Sailing more than 280 miles NW of Dalin, he should also be able to finish on one tack. Bestaven was one of the group of five awarded a time bonus (10 hrs and 15 mins for him and 6 hours for Herrmann). It’s likely that race organisers will have to wait for him to finish early on Thursday morning to see the final rankings for the first five boats in this Vendée Globe.

Watch live coverage

The live coverage of the finishes can be followed in English on the Vendée Globe website and the race’s official social media channel including Facebook.

Set a reminder – coverage is due to start at 19.00 but obviously that is subject to change depending on the arrival times of the skippers.

English commentary will be provided by Alec Wilkinson, Dee Caffari and Will Harris.


Hear from skippers in the fleet


Pip Hare’s sent her best to the potential winners

“It’s really tense at the front. They’ve sailed an astounding race and who knows how that’s going to pan out?

“This race is about so much more than racing against other competitors.

“It’s been a huge learning experience for me, it’s been an absolute surprise and pleasure to end up where I have.

“I still have the motivation to push the boat that little bit harder.

“Solo racing requires you to have inner motivation because there is no one else pushing you to try harder. There has to be an internal drive to want to do better.

“The thing that motivates me is to still get the best result I possibly can with this boat.

“I want to get the boat home safely in good conditions and fast.

“Huge congratulations on such an intensely fought race, it’s a real privilege to be part of a race with you guys.” (09.25 27Jan21)


Miranda Merron is looking forward to warmer winds

“I am in very good shape, very good mood,” she says. “I’m trying to rest well now because these last few days, with such a capricious wind, it was impossible to go to sleep as [the wind] changed so much, sometimes by more than 100 degrees.” (08.43 27Jan21)


Watch all of yesterday’s best bits . ..


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