That's how quickly things can happen in the highly complex final sprint of the fourth Ocean Race leg: Team Malizia had just regained the lead from 11th Hour after some hard work in the early morning of 8 May. But then "Malizia - Seaexplorer" was thwarted by a nasty big cloud field. This cost the crew around stage skipper Will Harris 25 nautical miles before they were able to resume full speed.
First a storm, then a doldrums poker game in the final?
On Monday afternoon, Team Malizia 11th Hour Racing continued to chase with a gap of almost 25 nautical miles. Charlie Enright's leading US team still had around 650 nautical miles to go to the finish. At the same time, a long storm depression moved from south to north over the final section of the course of the fourth Ocean Race leg to Newport. Once it has passed, there are likely to be flat areas where no team wants to fall into the traps. Added to this are the many restricted areas around the destination harbour of Newport, which will not make any sensible approach possible.
The last two full days of the fourth Ocean Race leg to Newport are therefore full of uncertainties. But first, the fleet will be exposed to the powerful low over the next 24 hours. "Guyot" skipper Ben Dutreux joked with dark humour: "The Americans are really looking forward to us. They are welcoming us with a huge low-pressure area. Some forecasts predict up to 60 knots of wind."
Team Malizia replaces broken J2 sheet
Malizia navigator Nico Lunven also believes: "It's going to be pretty extreme." However, Nico "The Brain" Lunven is not expecting heavy swell: "I don't think it will be too bad because it's a fairly young low-pressure system. The swell won't have time to develop."
The Ocean Race organisers still expect the two leading boats to reach the finish harbour on the morning of 10 May. Until then, Team Malizia in particular is hoping that the repaired J2 mainsheet, which broke on Saturday and cost them a few miles, will hold. "That came as a bit of a surprise," explained Nico Lunven. The boat was sailing in winds of around 20 knots at a speed of 18 or 19 knots when the sheet failed.
Team Guyot attacks Team Biotherm
Rosalin Kuiper explained succinctly: "That was the J2 sheet. Too much load. Poof!" The team said that fitting the replacement sheet was no big deal. However, Nico Lunven said: "The replacement sheets also all have the same breaking load. So we hope that this won't happen again."
Meanwhile, bottom-placed Team Guyot benefited from the fact that Team Biotherm followed the front-runners and headed west. This allowed the team led by "Guyot" skipper Ben Dutreux and co-skipper Robert Stanjek to make up ground in the east.
The "Biotherm" crew had also included this unchosen option in their decision. Ocean Race novice Alan Roberts explains why his team still followed 11th Hour Racing and Team Malizia: "If you go west, you might lose something in the short term. But if you keep the boat in good condition until the finish, that's a good thing. And maybe you won't be able to reach the speeds predicted by the routing software in the stormy winds and waves."
The latest race report from 8 May from the Ocean Race headquarters in Alicante with voices from the sea:
"Poof!" - Click here for the video explaining the broken J2 sheet on "Malizia - Seaexplorer":
"Happy birthday, Robert Stanjek!" - Team Guyot's co-skipper celebrated his 42nd birthday on 8 May. The day before, navigator Seb Simon turned 33. The crew has now published the video for both anniversaries:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
