Intro:

Francois Gabart continues to lead the Vendee Globe by over 200 miles from Armel Le Cleac'h as the front two in the Vendee Globe pass the north of Brazil.

Script:

Armel Le Cleac'h was unable to make any impression on the 263-mile lead of Francois Gabart in the Vendee Globe round-the-world single-handed yacht race by early on Monday.

As the road to the finish shortens, the opportunities to strike back at the leader, Gabart, decline.

He continued to set the rhythm, and although Le Cleac'h kept pace overnight as they passed the north of Brazil in temperatures approaching 30 Celsius degrees in the shade, he was able to stay ahead.

South of the leaders, other duels ebbed and flowed.

Dick-Thomson, Le Cam-Golding and the trio Wavre-Boissieres-Sanso were all locked in battle.

Jean-Pierre Dick and Alex Thomson have been dropped by Gabart with even more ruthless speed.

Dick has lost 300 miles in three days and is 708 miles from the leader but has extended his lead over Thomson to 132 miles.

In the Pacific, De Broc-De Lamotte were living their last day on the largest ocean in the world, and the gap between the two continued to decrease.

They looked like forming a new duet as they begin the long climb up the Atlantic, adding a little suspense for the final weeks of the race.