After successful gybes on the morning of the 13th day at sea, the leaders in the Ocean Race continued their relentless duel unabated. Most recently, Team Malizia with stage skipper Will Harris was able to make up ground in the outgoing trade winds. In the meantime, the two leading boats have lost twelve knots of speed in lighter winds. On the evening of 5 May, Team Malizia and the US team 11th Hour Racing sailed in a north-westerly direction towards the direct course line into the stage port of Newport at a speed of 15 or 16 knots.
The complex final phase of the fourth Ocean Race leg has begun
With the gybes in the morning, Charlie Enright's crew on "Mālama" had initially gained a theoretical advantage in tracking as they moved closer to the mooring line on the "inside lane". However, Will Harris and the Malizians were able to defend their small lead of around six nautical miles throughout the day as the boats headed towards the south-east coast of the USA.
There are several uncertainties ahead of the teams in the long-running duel: Firstly, the wind will shift again - this time directly in front of them. Secondly, they will encounter the Gulf Stream, which is pushing north-eastwards. The final days of this fourth Ocean Race challenge promise to be complicated. "There are many transitions that are not yet clear," said race meteorologist Christian Dumard. The organisers are still expecting the two front runners to arrive on 10 May. What is less clear, however, is how they will reach the finish line.
Team Biotherm fell into the doldrums trap
Paul Meilhat's French team Biotherm suffered the most recently. On the previous day, it had come within 40 nautical miles of the top duo. But then, from early Friday morning onwards, things went downhill in the classification. As if in slow motion and with an average speed of just four knots, Paul Meilhat and his crew made conspicuously slow progress. On land, there were growing concerns that the team might be struggling with technical problems, but this was not the case.
Team Biotherm had simply and annoyingly fallen into a weather trap and got caught in a huge doldrums field that had not been predicted by any model or forecast. "We are simply surrounded by a glassy sea. Everyone is asking us if we've broken something. But the only thing wrong here is the wind," Mariana Lobato radioed through from the sea.
New chance for Team Guyot: third place back in sight
Team Biotherm was finally able to pick up speed again in the afternoon. But by then, Team Guyot had been able to significantly reduce the previously large gap to "Biotherm". On Friday evening, only around 60 nautical miles separated Guyot Environnement - Team Europe from third place, which suddenly seemed within reach again. Considering that Team Guyot was still more than 300 nautical miles behind the leading boats and 240 nautical miles behind Team Biotherm on the morning of the previous day, it is probably the most remarkable race to catch up so far on this fourth leg of the Ocean Race.
This means that "Guyot" skipper Ben Dutreux, co-skipper Robert Stanjek from Berlin, Annie Lush and navigator Seb Simon have given themselves a fair chance to get back into the fight for the podium places. Only one thing was certain five days before the final: this leg is far from over and will present the crews with further hurdles.
The struggle with seaweed and weather systems in the North Atlantic:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
