Our friend Alessandro slowly gets nearer to the record around the world, non stop and without assistance, on the run of the "Vendée Globe", on board  his mini 6m50 boat.
In fact, today Monday 31st May at 00:00, after 216 days at sea, he has just overcome the equator but this time from the South toward the North. To notice that he has overcome this mythical latitude of 0, exactly at the point where he had cut it when he was going down . A coincidence or just a small mathematical pleasure ?
A true achievement, that is being realized with vivacity by this outstanding sailor, who knows how to handle both the harpoon on the sea beams- to improve his ordinary meals, as well as the vocalizations of the Italian ways, when the wind sulks him. He has taken advantage to make a bath in a water at 27°, just the time to check  if  the boat has not suffered too much from these 7 months of navigation.  Just a happy man.
 When is he going to arrive?  Many persons wonder. It took him one month to go down where he is currently sailing up, it was already a beautiful performance. He will arrive with the summer, the anticyclones and their whims. Whatever, we will all be there to welcome him, and to fittingly celebrate him as he deserves. We rely on you.

His official chronometer-officer for ISAF / World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC)
CLERC Jean-Jacques 
Sailing National Referee