Between trepidation and hope, in slow motion or making rapid progress: four days after the start of the second leg of the Ocean Race, different moods prevailed on board the five Imocas heading south. The front runners have reached the Doldrums on the equator. The low-wind band at the equator - currently several hundred nautical miles wide in a north-south direction - initially allowed the four boats in the leading group to make slow-motion progress at just a few knots on Sunday morning.
Team Malizia, on the other hand, benefited from fresh winds of around 15 knots with just under 150 nautical miles behind the leading "Biotherm". As a result, skipper Will Harris, Nico Lunven, Yann Eliès and Rosalin Kuiper were able to make up a lot of ground overnight. The same applies to all boats: they have chosen their course for the passage of the squid belt. Officially known as the intra-tropical convergence zone, it will test the Ocean Race crews in the coming days in the areas of patience, endurance and navigation. The crucial question: who can get through the fastest and jump on the trade wind train to the south?
Charlie Enright: "The race will be won - or lost - in the Doldrums"
On 29 January, a Doldrums passage further west appeared to be an advantage, as the light wind band was narrower there. That would be a plus for Team Malizia. On the other hand, without Boris Herrmann on board, who is recovering from a scalded foot in Cape Town, the team will have to cover more miles on course for the Cape Town leg harbour.
"This race won't be won here, it will be won - or lost - in the Doldrums," said Charlie Enright shortly before reaching the Kalmen. The skipper of the 11th Hour Racing Team continued: "Our plan is to get close to the others and see what happens. Once you're in the Doldrums, it's open game for everyone again."
On-board reporter Amory Ross: "There are two camps in the fleet out here"
The speeds and angles that the crews can sail depending on their sailing wardrobe make for differences in the fleet. The teams are allowed to have eight sails on board. Amory Ross, onboard reporter in the 11th Hour Racing Team explains: "There are two camps in the fleet out here: those with A2s and those without. A2s are the big white spinnakers."
Amory Ross clarifies: "It's clear that Holcim-PRB and Malizia have decided not to take their A2s with them to use a different sail. Their black A3s need higher, more acute angles to get up to speed. While we and Biotherm managed to sail relatively deep and stay in the same wind field, we (temporarily) lost contact with Holcim and drifted north-west and out of AIS range."
Amory Ross also sees the phenomenon in the competition: "You can see the same difference in the angles between Malizia and Guyot, who sailed much lower all the time with their A2 and managed well to save the miles and sail further forward again from the back of the fleet."
Kevin Escoffier: "We have paid for our decision"
"Holcim - PRB" skipper Kevin Escoffier admitted that these conditions are hurting his team. "The boats ahead of us seem to be better. It's also about the choice of sail. We decided not to take a sail that would have been useful now. We paid a little for this decision right from the start. But we are doing our best not to lose too much. In the South Atlantic we will hopefully win with the sail we have - and the others won't. That's part of the game."
So it remains exciting as the fleet approaches the zero latitude before the teams can put the pedal to the metal again next week.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
