Holcim-PRB locked in front-end-fleet battle
Having left Cartagena on Tuesday afternoon, Holcim-PRB is delivering a remarkable fight at the front of The Ocean Race Europe fleet. After spending yesterday executing a series of maneuvers in light airs, the Swiss IMOCA left the Balearic Islands overnight and is now heading southeast of Porquerolles. Kuiper and her crew (Nicolas Lunven, Franck Cammas, and Carolijn Brouwer) have been locked in a constant battle, seizing first place several times yesterday and now trailing Botherm by just 20 miles today.
The Mediterranean is living up to its reputation. The conditions are varied and quite unpredictable. Since the start, it has been difficult to make projections as the real conditions encountered on the water by the Holcim-PRB team are very different from those predicted by the models.
Yesterday was complicated because the wind does whatever it wants. Above all, it does what is not in the models. We managed pretty well with Biotherm. We gained some distance from the other boats. But it’s temporary because a lot will happen. The weather is really very complicated, twisted, and variable until the end. We have to stay focused and try not to make mistakes. For example, we just got caught on the wrong side of a wind shift. It wasn’t forecast that way, and as a result, Biotherm came back on us.
Today, the intensity of the race will be the same, but the setting radically different. Holcim-PRB will have to deal with a progressive strengthening of the wind, reaching 25 to 30 knots. Sailing close-hauled but slightly eased, the IMOCA will accelerate. The sailors are ready to take on this new phase of the race. Though the sailors are feeling the strain of continuous maneuvers since the start of this third leg, the atmosphere on board remains excellent and sharply focused.
We are serious, concentrated. We don’t really have time to have an aperitif or organize a barbecue on the aft deck. We’ve had little sleep since the start. It’s a bit like the Solitaire du Figaro atmosphere!
