We won the first battle, but not the war
The weather over the first four days of the race was not very kind to the 3 crews taking part in this seventh and final leg of The Ocean Race.
Light winds, currents and a heavy heat haze punctuated the first part of the race. Up to now, Benjamin Schwartz and his crew had performed almost perfectly in difficult weather conditions. Making the right choices of route and sails, exploiting every wind shift, they have been at the head of the fleet since the North Sea and have managed to extend their lead over their first opponent Biotherm in the Bay of Biscay. This morning, they were up to 56 miles ahead of the crew led by Paul Meilhat. But this lead is melting like snow in the sun ... And Holcim-PRB's position as leader is becoming increasingly uncertain.
For most of the day, we've had to deal with a zone of light winds which has grown a little faster than we thought. It's costing us quite a few miles.
And the next few hours are likely to reshuffle the cards. The first challenge was to find the right moment this evening to initiate the change of tack that allowed the Swiss monohull to finally point its bow southwards and take advantage of more stable winds.
We should soon be able to change tack and head south, having picked up a bit of wind. At the moment, we've got 5/6 knots, and we're hoping to pick up 15 knots of wind. We'll have the choice of passing inside or outside the famous DST of Cape Finisterre, and then try to pick up some wind along the coast of Portugal. The descent towards the cape will be made in a westerly wind, on the beam. After that, we'll be sailing downwind, but we'll have very little wind again.
The atmosphere on board today was exceptionally quiet. The Bay of Biscay is almost eerily calm... All you can hear are the beeps from the autopilot, which the sailors adjust by plus or minus 5 degrees, hoping for the IMOCA's slight acceleration. Patience is key, and the atmosphere is excellent, in spite of these heavy conditions when you're racing. Benjamin Schwartz, Yoann Richomme, Ambrogio Beccaria and Annemieke Bes are taking the opportunity to recharge their batteries in the run-up to the (currently distant) finish in the Mediterranean. "The bedding is good!" laughs Yoann Richomme.
The crew of the Swiss monohull are coping with these tricky conditions, and are already preparing for a major fleet squeeze.
We've won the first battle, but not the war. It's far from over. Our rivals are going to catch up with us along the Portuguese coast. We don't have much wind, so we're going to have to make our way along the coast, because further offshore there's a small low-pressure system that's disrupting the synoptic wind. We're hoping to get a bit of thermal by sticking to the coast, before picking up a bit of Portuguese trade wind off Cabo da Roca. This will take us down to Cape Saint Vincent. The wind should wrap around Cape Saint Vincent and take us almost as far as Gibraltar. But in my opinion, in Gibraltar, the three of us (Holcim-PRB, Biotherm and Malizia, editor's note) will be side by side.
Once in the Strait, the fleet will still be 850 miles from the finish. Today, it's hard to say when the IMOCAs will be able to catch a glimpse of the Bay of Genoa. "We're still at the same remaining race time, even though it's been four days since we set off ..." says an astonished Yoann Richomme. Taking advantage of the pleasant sailing conditions and keeping the boat moving forward is the philosophy currently guiding the sailors of Holcim-PRB.
In the rankings at 20:00 (French time) this Monday, Holcim-PRB is progressing towards the south at a speed of 10,1 knots and is still in 1st place, more than 27 miles ahead of Biotherm in second place.
