Every turn along the Spanish coast could have caused damage on the way to the Strait of Gibraltar. Accordingly, the crews approached the eye of the needle with caution. In the meantime, all five Imoca crews have passed the Strait of Gibraltar and positioned themselves on course for Cape Verde.
With a thrilling top duel on the Atlantic
The two leading boats "Holcim - PRB" and "Malama" from the US team 11th Hour Racing were separated by just twelve nautical miles in the early hours of Tuesday evening after day two at sea. The Americans had just closed the gap on the Swiss team, which had taken the lead from them during the night in a demanding tacking marathon, by another twelve miles. The thrilling duel for the lead continues in the Atlantic.
The leading duo was followed by the chasing trio of "Malizia - Seaexplorer", "Biotherm" and "Guyot" at distances of just under 50, 58 and 65 nautical miles. All three sailed much closer to the theoretical course line than the windward boats "Holcim - PRB" and "11th Hour Racing", which will always be first in the fresh north-westerly wind. This will allow them to take the better angles and probably pull away even further. There is also less wind downwind near the Rhumbline.
Boris Herrmann: "We have reached the first major milestone of the race"
Kevin Escoffier's Holcim - PRB team faced an additional technical challenge on the second day of the first leg: The mainsail, which had torn close to the luff after the clew of the jib had punctured the sail during a tack, needed to be repaired. Fortunately, the somewhat calmer conditions on the Atlantic offered the opportunity to repair the damage.
Boris Herrmann, whose team Malizia was in third position at the exit of the Strait of Gibraltar, reported: "We have sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar. Now we still have a few fish farms and shallows to navigate around, and there's still a lot of traffic, but we've passed the first big milestone of the race. Perhaps this was the most difficult time. It was a very intense day and night. We saw 50 knots (wind speed) yesterday."
For the 41-year-old from Hamburg, it was "an emotional moment" to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar: "There are so many memories attached to it ..." He added with a smile: "I've never been kite-foiling here. But that will come one day." There was more good news from Malizia's co-skipper Rosalin Kuiper, who has overcome her seasickness from the first two days.
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
