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The Ocean RaceBest pictures from the Mindelo start - "Biotherm" in the lead

Tatjana Pokorny

 · 26.01.2023

After the start of leg two, it's off into the sunset. Robert Stanjek from Berlin skippers the Guyot Environnement - Team Europe into stage two
Photo: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

The first night of the second leg has been completed. After a short detour to the west, the Ocean Race fleet initially remains close to the direct course line to Cape Town. Paul Meilhat's "Biotherm" leads ahead of "11th Hour Racing" and "Holcim - PRB". Team Malizia and Guyot Environnement - Team Europe follow.

After the Ocean Race fleet's historic first visit to Mindelo in Cape Verde, the Ocean Race continues. Leg two takes the five teams to Cape Town. In initially very light winds of around six knots, there are some tough decisions to be made: The first task is to ideally pass the wide belt of squid at the equator and reach the trade winds as quickly as possible. Whoever manages this first has a good chance of escaping the field. However, the St Helena High in the south forms a second, huge doldrums trap on the course for Cape Town.

The skippers of the Ocean Race fleet for leg two (from right): Berlin-based Robert Stanjek, French "Biotherm" skipper Paul Meilhat, Brit Will Harris, who is skippering "Malizia - Seaexplorer" for the injured Boris Herrmann, Charlie Enright from Team 11th Hour Racing and "Holcim - PRB" skipper Kevin EscoffierPhoto: Sailing Energy/The Ocean RaceThe skippers of the Ocean Race fleet for leg two (from right): Berlin-based Robert Stanjek, French "Biotherm" skipper Paul Meilhat, Brit Will Harris, who is skippering "Malizia - Seaexplorer" for the injured Boris Herrmann, Charlie Enright from Team 11th Hour Racing and "Holcim - PRB" skipper Kevin Escoffier

The incredible family story of Nico Lunven and Yann Eliès

While the fleet fights for the best positions on the day after the start, there are some amazing encounters on board the boats. Such as the one between the Frenchman Yann Eliès, who has stepped onto "Malizia - Seaexplorer" to replace the injured skipper Boris Herrmann, and his compatriot Nico Lunven. Their shared history is extraordinary ...

French Malizia sailor Nico Lunven recalls his family sailing history, which he shares with Yann Eliès | Team MaliziaPhoto: Ricardo PintoFrench Malizia sailor Nico Lunven recalls his family sailing history, which he shares with Yann Eliès | Team MaliziaYann Eliès ahead of his first outing for Team MaliziaPhoto: Jimmy Horel/Team MaliziaYann Eliès ahead of his first outing for Team Malizia

Nico Lunven says with a smile: "Yann and I found out that our fathers competed against each other in the Figaro Circuit in the 1970s and then competed in the first Whitbread Round the World Race together on the same boat in 1973." This refers to the French "Grand Louis", on which Bruno Lunven and Patrick Eliès completed the premiere of the most important round-the-world race together.

Fathers and sons: a shared Ocean Race story

"Now, 50 years later," says Nico Lunven, "Yann and I - who have been competing against each other on the Figaros for ten years - are sailing the Ocean Race together! We had no idea!" The fathers finished third in the field of 19 boats on "Grand Louis" behind the Mexican Swan 65 "Sayula" and the British Camper-Nicholson 55 "Adventure". The "Grand Louis" was a Presley 61, and their podium finish 50 years ago should give Nico Lunven and Yann Eliès on board "Malizia - Seaexplorer" an extra boost.

At a snail's pace of four to seven knots, the Ocean Race fleet headed south after the first night of leg two. Paul Meilhat's "Biotherm" led the field 13 hours after the starting signalPhoto: Screenshot/The Ocean RaceAt a snail's pace of four to seven knots, the Ocean Race fleet headed south after the first night of leg two. Paul Meilhat's "Biotherm" led the field 13 hours after the starting signal

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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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