Ocean Race Europe: Flautentücken in the Alborán Sea - the Malizia opportunity

That's how it can go when you take a last look at the tracker very late in the evening and look again in the morning: Team Malizia - still 104 nautical miles behind the leaders shortly before midnight in the final sprint on leg two of the Ocean Race Europe - reduced the gap by an incredible 70 nautical miles on Friday morning. The reason for this is a night-time calm scenario typical of the Mediterranean, in which the leading boats had barely made any progress.

After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, the leading boats are struggling at just a few knots in the Alborán Sea off the Spanish coast towards the next port of call, Cartagena. With a few knots more, Allagrande Mapei Racing and "Malizia - Seaexplorer" were able to make up a lot of ground. Click here for Lice tracking and the constantly changing positions.

The Strait of Gibraltar provided spectacular scenes on Thursday as the leading boats in the Ocean Race entered the Mediterranean. For "Paprec Arkéa", for example, which was still in the lead at the time, the Gibraltar passage was surprisingly calm, even though the waterway is considered one of the busiest in the world.

Leg 2 of the Ocean Race Europe: Wind switched off

On-board reporter Julien Champolion captured the Gibraltar moment with a drone. This resulted in impressive shots of the Imoca ploughing through the shallow sea, with a clear sky above and the land in the distance. Other on-board reporters have also recently delivered pictures worth seeing, which can be viewed in the gallery.

The five leading teams had made it through the famous strait in favourable downwind conditions before they hit a wall and ruthlessly lost the lead they had gained up to that point. As if someone had simply switched off the wind, the speedy rides they had just enjoyed in the windless Alborán Sea came to an almost complete standstill.

The newly sorted top three - "Biotherm", "Team Holcim-PRB" and "Paprec Arkéa" - were separated by just a few nautical miles in the doldrums on Friday morning, while Allagrande Mapei Racing and Team Malizia continued to close the gap from behind. Everything is set for a thrilling finale in the demanding final sprint on this second leg of the Ocean Race Europe on course for the stage harbour of Cartagena. According to the latest information from the race headquarters, the first boats are expected to arrive there in the late afternoon, or perhaps overnight.

Position battles in calm winds

The mood on board the Imocas is in stark contrast to the calm conditions at sea: light wind qualities are just as important as a little luck. "Paprec Arkéa", which had been in the lead since Tuesday, was the first to pass Gibraltar. The French team had initially been able to pull away slightly in favourable conditions. "We made a great move in the night from Wednesday to Thursday with a good sail configuration and reached around 30 knots," explained skipper Yoann Richomme. Speeds like that were just a dream on Friday.

The fan has switched off completely." Yoann Richomme

The "Paprec Arkéa" skipper, whose team at the time won the first Ocean Race Europe 2021 with the VO65 class, which was still active four years ago, continued: "It helped us to sail a little further south off Gibraltar. Then we caught another strong wind before we got into a really big lull. We dropped from 25 knots to four knots within ten seconds!"

Team Holcim-PRB was also able to use the passage around Gibraltar to its advantage. "After a beautiful passage with a strong westerly wind behind us, we entered much calmer transition zones," said Franck Cammas, summarising the course. The crew around "Holcim-PRB" skipper Rosalin Kuiper managed to catch up with the previous Ocean Race Europe dominator "Biotherm".

"At one point, we were only three miles away before the gap widened again," recalls Cammas. Below the Spanish coastline, the boats are now watching each other: Triple at the front, Allagrande Mapei Racing and Team Malizia less than 40 nautical miles behind. "In these conditions, there's always a chance for the boats behind to catch up again," Franck Cammas was not the only one to realise. Half a day before the finish in Cartagena, nothing has been decided yet.

Ocean Race Europe: everything still open

"We still have several transitions ahead of us - it's going to be very unpredictable," Richomme said. "We're expecting a change from westerly to easterly winds, but the breeze will remain very light throughout the day." Franck Cammas agreed with him on Friday morning: "We'll be making progress in light winds, sailing upwind and waiting for the north-easterly breeze to put us in the right position. It could be a long haul, but we will try to make the most of every opportunity. That's the beauty of the Mediterranean - at least everything is still open and nothing has been decided yet!"

The sailing thriller plays out on a picture-perfect stage in slow motion, as Team Malizia's onboard reporter Flore Hartout reported: "It's getting warmer and the sea is a glorious blue - we must be approaching the Mediterranean! The crew remain vigilant to spot wind changes, possible orca sightings and fishing vessels. As Frankie says: 'It's not over until it's over. The fight goes on and every minute counts'."

"Not faster, but with a better angle," said Loïs Berrehar. How "Malizia - Seaexplorer" managed to catch up in a challenging chase situation. The clip from Thursday evening also shows that the sailors have to fight fatigue in the continuous beat on the complex second leg of the Ocean Race Europe: