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The Ocean RaceBest in the West? "Biotherm" leads in the doldrums poker game

Tatjana Pokorny

 · 27.01.2023

Currently the fifth and last boat to chase the Imoca fleet: new skipper Will Harris on "Malizia - Seaexplorer"
Photo: Team Malizia/The Ocean Race
The second leg of the 14th The Ocean Race remains a slow one. With average speeds of around five to seven knots over the past 24 hours, all five boats are sailing a westerly course after the second night. The search is on: the fastest possible bridge across the equatorial belt of calms

"Biotherm" quartet defends top position

The Imocas have become a little faster in the last 24 hours. But in winds of around 14 or 15 knots, the fleet is still not really making rapid progress on the second morning of the second leg. Paul Meilhat's front runner "Biotherm" continued to lead the field on the morning of 27 January. The all-French team with Damien Seguin, Anthony Marchand and Amélie Grassi was able to extend its lead overnight to 13 nautical miles ahead of Charlie Enright's US team 11th Hour Racing and almost 30 nautical miles ahead of Kevin Escoffier's Team Holcim - PRB.

The intermediate results after the second night at sea in leg two on 27 January at 9 a.m. German time. Good to see: All boats are sailing on a westerly course. "Biotherm" (blue boat symbol) is leading, Team Malizia is fighting to catch up in fifth placePhoto: Screenshot/The Ocean RaceThe intermediate results after the second night at sea in leg two on 27 January at 9 a.m. German time. Good to see: All boats are sailing on a westerly course. "Biotherm" (blue boat symbol) is leading, Team Malizia is fighting to catch up in fifth place

The Guyot Environnement - Team Europe with the Berlin skipper and helmsman Robert Stanjek was almost 43 nautical miles behind on Friday morning. Already 66 nautical miles behind, Team Malizia with British new skipper Will Harris is trying to catch up. With 175 nautical miles completed in the past 24 hours, it is clear that the stable German Imoca is struggling a little. "Biotherm" managed 227 nautical miles in the same period. This is partly due to the current light wind weakness of the "Malizia" and partly to the somewhat stronger winds at the front of the field.

Robert Stanjek: "This stage could be very, very long"

As they approach the equator, the wind forecasts make it clear why the fleet is currently moving westwards away from the direct course line to Cape Town. The doldrums seem to be less pronounced there in the meantime. All teams are hoping that this will allow them to get through the notoriously light winds more quickly. In the southern hemisphere, the crews are hoping to quickly jump on the trade wind bandwagon to the south before another challenge awaits with the St Helena High.

In view of the western strategy of all the teams, it also becomes clear why the tracker for the fleet still shows 4,500 nautical miles to the finish, even though the stage as a whole was marked as a direct 4,600 nautical miles and the field has already been travelling for a day and a half. Not only "Guyot" skipper Robert Stanjek had announced before the start: "This leg could be very, very long."

Click here for the tracker and the intermediate results.

On board "Malizia - Seaexplorer", Rosalin Kuiper has already had to climb up the mast. She takes viewers with her via video camera ...

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Tatjana Pokorny

Tatjana Pokorny

Sports reporter

Tatjana “tati” Pokorny is the author of nine books. As a reporter for Europe's leading sailing magazine YACHT, she also works as a correspondent for the German Press Agency (DPA), the Hamburger Abendblatt and other national and international media. In summer 2024, Tatjana will be reporting from Marseille on her ninth consecutive Olympic Games. Other core topics have been the America's Cup since 1992, the Ocean Race since 1993, the Vendée Globe and other national and international regattas and their protagonists. Favorite discipline: Portraits of and interviews with sailing personalities. When she started out in sports journalism, she was still intensively involved with basketball and other sports, but sailing quickly became her main focus. The reason? The declared optimist says: “There is no other sport like it, no other sport with such interesting and intelligent personalities, no other sport so diverse, no other sport so full of energy, strength and ideas. Sailing is like a constantly refreshing declaration of love for life."

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