The starting signal for the final leg of the Ocean Race Europe has been given off Genoa. In very light winds, the "Ocean's Seven" crawled across the starting line in slow motion in the hot Italian late summer. Around 2000 nautical miles lay ahead on course for the destination harbour of Boka Bay.
Travelling at less than a handful of knots, the Imocas will not be able to escape the sometimes glassy Ligurian Sea in the triangle between Genoa, Monaco and Pisa any time soon. In the first few hours of the leg, there were hardly any winds of more than two to four knots anywhere. Serious relief does not seem to be in sight until Tuesday.
Ocean Race Europe: the stage of duels
The crews will be challenged for more than a week in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. The French "Biotherm" with skipper Paul Meilhat, who is leading with 41 points, is sailing towards its probable victory "calmly, but not casually", according to a team statement. Behind them, several exciting duels could unfold: "Paprec Arkéa" and "Holcim-PRB" are vying for European silver with a difference of 1.3 points.
Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia, which is only one point behind "Allagrande Mapei", will try to attack the Italians and move back up to fourth place. However, the Malizians are already 9.3 points behind Team Holcim-PRB in third place. Alan Roura's Team Amaala has six points to make up on Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive if they want to get rid of the red lantern at the back of the pack.
A maximum of 16 points are still up for grabs with victories on leg five, two bonus points for the fastest boat at the scoring gate on the latitude of Santo Stefano Island in the Thyrrenian Sea and victory in the coastal race on 20 September in the Boka Bay area. The fleet is expected to arrive in Boka Bay around eight days after the start on 15 September. The classification after four stages can be found here.
Team Malizia reorganised: Will Harris awake
Team Malizia's crew has reorganised itself for the Showdon: "Francesca, Cole and I are sailing in a watch system, while Will is free of the watches and can concentrate fully on navigation, taking short naps as he does in single-handed sailing," explained Boris Herrmann. "This way, he can keep a constant eye on the weather without the stress of missing important moments due to sleep. We think this might be a better method in the conditions in the Mediterranean."
We really want to have more points in our account, so we're aiming for a strong result." Francesca Clapcich
Francesca Clapcich, who is taking over as skipper of "Malizia - Seaexplorer" after the Ocean Race Europe on the way to her Vendée Globe premiere, explained the background to the decision: "The Mediterranean and the Adriatic are difficult waters, especially for boats like ours, so it won't be easy. Will won't have it easy as navigator, but we'll all support him and try to sail the boat as fast as possible, trim the sails correctly and keep a good atmosphere on board."
Will Harris was happy to take on the new role, saying: "Normally other sailors like Justine, Loïs or Francesca do this, but as I've had two legs off, I've had more time to prepare. It will be long and intense, but I also believe that we will find our rhythm very well on board the 'Malizia - Seaexplorer'. That's usually our advantage in longer races."
A course peppered with waypoints
Looking at the intermediate results in the Ocean Race Europe, Will Harris said: "Based on the results so far, it's been a tough race for us. We knew it would be tough with such a strong fleet, but it would be nice to finish with a good result. We will give it our best shot and see what we can achieve."
The route announced on Friday morning sees the fleet sailing south from Genoa, passing Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily before heading south towards Greece and then turning north again into the Adriatic. The race organisers have peppered the course with a series of waypoints along the way.
The teams continued to experience the predicted extremely light winds hours after the start. In a group of fellow sufferers, they moved south-westwards from Genoa in the early hours of Sunday evening, roughly at the height of Savona. "We will have extremely light winds from the start this afternoon until Tuesday," said "Frankie" Clapcich, describing the XXL calm scenario for good nerves.
We will be fighting for every gust of wind and every bit of acceleration. It will be difficult to get out of the Bay of Genoa." Francesca Clapcich
The hope of the Italian-American: "Hopefully we can catch some wind in the Golfe du Lion to help us build up speed." The magic word in the leaden doldrums is Santo Stefano. The longitude of the island to the north-east of Sardinia is the scoring point for the bonus points on this leg.
Ocean Race Europe: Fleet separation at Santo Stefano?
Will Harris said: "We could encounter new mistral winds there. Whoever catches the classic strong Mediterranean wind first could accelerate from five knots to 25 or 30 knots. That could lead to the first big split in the fleet."
However, according to the fleet and Francesca Clapcich, meaningful forecasts and long-term stage plans are "premature beyond the south of Sardinia" because the weather is constantly changing in the southern European region. "We get new forecasts every few hours," says Clapcich, "so it's crucial to make the most of these first 48 hours, stay ahead, not fall behind and do what we think is right. We will also be fighting for the scoring goal, which is worth two points."
We need all the points. It's going to be very interesting." Francesca Clapcich
Boris Herrmann felt a little melancholy before the start of this final leg of the last major race with his "Malizia - Seaexplorer". He played a major role in developing the boat and once said that it would always remain "my most important boat". Now Herrmann said in Genoa: "This is my last offshore race with this boat, and I want to end it on a high. Afterwards, we will hand over the keys to Francesca." His "greatest wish is to finish on the podium again and sail a strong leg".
