There are no breaks to catch your breath on this royal stage. The sailors had only just digested the action-packed thriller from the start when important strategic decisions had to be made. On day one, the navigators were intensively tested in their trade-offs between a high-pressure wedge and the pitfalls of the Agulhas Current. On day two, the entire fleet sailed back on course for Rhumbline.
The south must wait ...
The direct route to the next port of call, Itajaí, leads south-east of the Cape of Good Hope across the 40th parallel south. A deeper dive into the Southern Ocean is prevented for the time being by a huge storm that will move from west to east in the coming days along the ice line, which was initially drawn in this region at around 45 degrees south latitude.
"Holcim - PRB" leads, "Guyot" does not let up
The Swiss team Holcim -PRB also defended its lead on the morning of 28 February. Skipper Kevin Escoffier, Tom Laperche, Sam Goodchild and Abby Ehler propelled their green and blue Imoca eastwards at speeds of around 20 knots. The second-placed Guyot Environnement - Team Europe with skipper Benjamin Dutreux, Berlin co-skipper Robert Stanjek, navigator Seb Simon and Annie Lush were even faster at times on Tuesday morning. The "Guyot" quartet didn't let up on their older but well-tested boat and stayed close to the leaders with a gap of just 38 nautical miles.
More than 100 nautical miles behind "Holcim - PRB", the US team 11th Hour Racing and Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia with navigator Nico Lunven, Will Harris and Rosalin Kuiper followed at short intervals. Team Biotherm, which started the most important Ocean Race leg around nine hours late after the repairs in Cape Town, had long since caught up with the fleet and was only 15 nautical miles behind fourth-placed Team Malizia. Skipper Paul Meilhat, Sam Davies, Damien Seguin and Anthony Marchand had benefited from the tenacious dodging of the others in the Agulhas current, among other things.
Kevin Escoffier: "We have just made our first jibe"
The Escoffier team cemented its lead for the time being with the fastest escape from the "Dümpel prison" in the Agulhas river. In keeping with the motto "The rich get richer", the Holcim-PRB quartet reached the increasing winds first and subsequently slightly extended and consistently defended the lead they had already gained at the start of the race.
All the other teams also completed the gybe to the north, which Team Holcim - PRB opted for in order to avoid the too brutal storm low in the south. Kevin Escoffier explained shortly afterwards: "We have just made a first gybe. That's obviously because we have so much wind. What's more, we're not even sure whether we'll be able to get through in more wind in terms of long-term strategy. There was a lot of deliberation on board. As always, when you have to make decisions that can lead to large gaps between the boats, depending on the outcome. But maybe everyone will do what we did."
"The low is not as fast as it seems"
It turned out as Escoffier suspected. The other boats also stopped. Commenting on his team's advantage on the leading boat, Kevin Escoffier said: "We're in a slightly different situation because we have the few miles advantage that we got from the start. Everything is going well. We've managed to find a good waking rhythm. Everyone is sleeping well. We are attacking the Indian Ocean. So it's going to be a big chunk. We'll be heading towards Australia with this weather situation: We will follow this low pressure area, which is not as fast as it seems. We will be behind it. There will also be a tropical depression that we have to keep an eye on. So we have a lot to do!"
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
