Guillou surges as high pressure threatens to split the fleet in two

A high-pressure system crossing the Bay of Biscay is setting up the next tactical call of the 2026 Golden Globe Race, three days after the fleet fought headwinds out of Les Sables-d'Olonne. It's squeezing the northern boats already, while those further south are still holding a favourable north-easterly. Whether that turns into a real split will likely be clear within a day or two.

Damien Guillou's call to head south is paying off. Sailing Solarem, the boat that put him in front early in Biscay, he's now in calmer seas off the Spanish coast with a clean wind angle into Cape Finisterre, and logged the fleet's best 24-hour run at 156 nautical miles. Pat Lawless is close behind on the same route, adding 137nm of his own.

Etienne Messikommer, Guido Cantini and Daniel Pinsky are all sailing in the same breeze band a little further back, each posting daily runs between 90 and 110nm. Ertan Beskardes matched Pinsky stride for stride at 108nm. Louis Kerdelhué is holding station with that group too, after a temporary repair to a Hydrovane fastening that had worked loose.

Further north, the picture is less comfortable. Andrea Lodolo and Guy deBoer both bet on sitting north for an earlier wind shift, a call flagged as a risk two days ago, and their numbers are backing that concern up. deBoer's 24-hour run has dropped to 71nm, Lodolo's to 87nm, both well off the pace set further south. If they can't work back south quickly, the advancing high pressure could park them in it.

Gunnar Christensen and Helga Marie "Mara" Løvenskiold Kveseth are both ticking over further back in the fleet. Matt Woodside's plotted position needs a caveat, his last tracker update landed four hours before everyone else's snapshot, so he's likely further on than the map shows. Pär Nyman, delayed in port for rigging and rudder repairs reported here on Day 2, is finally sailing again, but at 0.7 knots and 79nm covered since restarting, he's got serious ground to make up on the fleet he lined up with before the start.

Past Finisterre, the forecast turns favourable toward the Lanzarote film gate, the race's first checkpoint. Guillou's group could be there as early as 15 September. A patch of lighter air later on that leg may still give the chasing boats a chance to close the gap before then.