Ocean Race Atlantic: “DMG Mori” leads – for now, Team Malizia strikes back

The right positioning could prove to be the decisive factor in the four-way battle at the top of the field in the Ocean Race Atlantic over the coming hours and days. This is because the leading quartet has already been squeezed together by the high-pressure system ahead of them, which is moving south-east. Lined up from south to north, ‘DMG Mori Global One’, ‘United by the Ocean’ and ‘11th Hour Racing’ – still locked in a close battle – along with ‘Malizia 4’, form a front that aims to push eastwards as quickly as possible.

Ocean Race Atlantic: “Malizia 4” well positioned

Most recently, Team Malizia has managed to further close the gap on the leading “DMG Mori Global One” on the northern outer flank. At around 9.30 am on the sixth day of the Ocean Race Atlantic, with the finish line in sight, Boris Herrmann and his crew were just over 38 nautical miles behind their Japanese rivals. And because “Malizia 4” was still sailing at a speed of around 16 knots at that point, with an average speed over four hours of more than 18.6 knots, the gap to the leader – which had stood at more than 110 nautical miles just two days earlier – continued to shrink.

Click here to go straight to the live tracker for The Ocean Race Atlantic

During a comparable time period, Kojiro Shiraishi’s “DMG Mori Global One” reached a speed of 15 knots at around 9.30 am on 8 September, but achieved only a four-hour average of 13.5 knots. The tracker clearly showed the reasons for this: Team Malizia felt the effects of the high-pressure system ahead, moving south-east, less at its northernmost position than the southernmost of the four boats: “DMG Mori Global One”.

Who’s best at getting through the high?

“DMG Mori” sailor Arisa Moriya had already said on Monday: “It’s been very choppy in strong winds over the last two days, but now the wind is easing. Over the next two days, we’ll be facing a very changeable and difficult situation. The challenges she mentioned are likely to persist until the middle of the week. On day six of the Ocean Race Atlantic, between ‘Malizia 4’ to the north and ‘DMG Mori Global One’ to the south, ‘United by the Ocean’ and ‘11th Hour Racing’ continued to battle it out in a close contest.”

Francesca Clapcich was already aware that the current conditions were not particularly favourable for her “11th Hour Racing”, the former “Malizia 3” owned by Boris Herrmann. The Italian-American said: “These light to moderate close-hauled conditions are not our strong point. The high-pressure system is moving. But we don’t know how quickly. After that, we’ll hopefully encounter stronger winds again. Then, hopefully, it’ll be more or less a reaching angle for the rest of the course.” Ocean Race Europe winner Paul Meilhat expects generally lighter winds for the final leg of the race.

"The race is still very much up for grabs. Perhaps we’ll all cross the finish line together, which would of course be brilliant for the public.” Paul Meilhat

​And because the high-pressure ridge is continuing to move, the crucial question now is: Who will find the quickest route through the zone of decreasing wind over the next 24 hours, without straying too far from the optimal course? Initially, lighter close-hauled courses are expected, but conditions are then set to improve significantly again on a reach or broad reach.

The top boats are now tackling the final 1,000 nautical miles of the Ocean Race Atlantic

For Malizia, the final third of the Atlantic leg of the Ocean Race could mark a comeback following last weekend’s technical setbacks: once the boats have passed through the high-pressure ridge, they should be able to pick up speed again. Just two months ago, the “Malizia 4”, launched on 6 July in Lorient has already demonstrated on numerous occasions that it is highly competitive at higher speeds.

Skill – and a bit of luck to avoid getting stuck in a windless zone – are now key factors. The day at sea this Tuesday began with the leading four boats having already embarked on the final 1,000 nautical miles of the Ocean Race Atlantic. That is why Oliver Heer’s “Embrace the Challenge” and Conrad Colman’s dark horse “MSIG Europe” – trailing the leader “DMG Mori Global Challenge” by around 300 and 360 nautical miles respectively – still have a fight on their hands.

There was a small consolation for the Swiss along the way: in the daily Supersprints, Oliver Heers’ “Embrace the Challenge” had triumphed on Monday evening made their way through with their patched mainsail. The 20-minute speed races always start at the same time for all boats – regardless of where they are on the North Atlantic course.

Team Malizia remains the sprint queen of the Ocean Race Atlantic

Team Malizia finished second in this special classification for the second time, having recorded three wins and a fourth-place finish. Boris Herrmann, Justine Mettraux, Cole Brauer and Julien Villion therefore continue to lead the standings on 31 points, ahead of “DMG Mori Global One” (26 points), “11th Hour Racing” (22 points) and “United by the Ocean” (18 points). Click here for the provisional standings in the speed competition, the results of which do not count towards the Ocean Race Atlantic standings.

Tough offshore sailing and a bit of fun on board the “Malizia 4”. The latest clip from Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia shows both: