Guillou stretches past 2,350 miles as Lodolo and Messikommer continue their private battle

Damien Guillou has pushed his tally past 2,350 nautical miles sailed aboard Solarem, adding another 165-mile day to a lead over Pat Lawless that's now settled above 100 nautical miles. Lawless remains a clear second on Silvermines Hydro, still posting solid numbers of his own, 159 miles at last count, but he simply can't match the pace Guillou keeps finding.

Third place is still a real fight. Etienne Messikommer and Andrea Lodolo are separated by barely 25 nautical miles on distance to finish, trading the position back and forth rather than either one breaking clear. Daniel Pinsky, Guido Cantini and Helga Marie "Mara" Løvenskiold Kveseth are close enough behind that this middle group has stayed this tight for most of the past week.

Selim Yalçin's numbers have stopped getting worse. Two days of heavy losses fighting the wind out of the Strait of Gibraltar have eased off, which may mean he's finally making headway toward Cádiz rather than just being shoved back. Guy deBoer's tracker figures haven't moved for a fifth straight update, confirming he's still sitting at Marina Rubicón waiting on repair funding. Pär Nyman is still slow, but he's gaining ground, a little more each day.

The weather picture backs up what the numbers already show. The fleet is holding to a narrow band of workable coastal breeze off Western Sahara, with a much stronger band of wind running unused further out to the west, and genuinely heavy conditions concentrated around the Strait of Gibraltar, right where Yalçin has been working. Nobody in the main group looks tempted to leave the coastal lane that's carried most of the fleet since Lanzarote.