SHOWS: AT SEA, ATLANTIC OCEAN (RECENT) (ASO - SEE ABOVE FOR RESTRICTIONS) 1. POLAND'S ZBIGNIEW GUTKOWSKI SAILING HIS ENERGA BOAT 2. VARIOUS OF GUTOWSKI ON THE BOAT 3. MORE OF ENERGA AT SEA, ATLANTIC OCEAN (NOVEMBER 21, 2012) (ASO - SEE ABOVE FOR RESTRICTIONS) 4. (SOUNDBITE) (French) BANQUE POPULAIRE SKIPPER, ARMEL LE CLÉAC'H, SAYING (rough translation): "I've just crossed the equator and therefore it is a tradition on my team to drink champagne, with a toast to Neptune, the boat also and the skipper. Now going south to Brazil. I'm not too drunk. I'm happy to be ahead, but there's only a very small gap." STORY: Zbigniew Gutkowski (ENERGA), announced his retirement from the Vendee Globe on Wednesday (November 21) after failing to try and fix his autopilots. The Pole, who was nearly 2,000 miles behind the leader Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire), had been running tests on his two autopilots after his wipe out on Saturday (November 17). Gutkowski was heading towards Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Wednesday evening in order to get some rest. Meanwhile, Le Cléac'h celebrated with a bottle of champagne on Wednesday as the Banque Populaire skipper was the first sailor to cross the equator. "I've just crossed the equator and therefore it is a tradition on my team to drink champagne, with a toast to Neptune, the boat also and the skipper," he said. "Now going south to Brazil. I'm not too drunk. I'm happy to be ahead, but there's only a very small gap." The Frenchman is leading the race with his compatriot Francois Gabart (Macif) 38.4 miles (at 2130 GMT) behind in second place.