The Ocean Race: Two unnecessary early starts, "Biotherm" with two female sailors
Tatjana Pokorny
· 23.04.2023
Team Biotherm is relying on female strength for the fourth leg of the Ocean Race: for the first time in this 14th edition of the round-the-world race, a team is contesting a leg with more than just the one female sailor required by the regulations. For the second longest Ocean Race leg from Iajaí in Brazil to Newport on the east coast of the USA (5,500 nautical miles), "Biotherm" skipper Paul Meilhat has brought two female sailors into his team.
Team Biotherm with 50:50 crew
In addition to Paul Meilhat and navigator Alan Roberts, French Ocean Race winner and multiple Nacra 17 World Champion Marie Riou from France is joining Team Biotherm. She won the last Ocean Race with Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team. She is joined on board the blue and white Imoca by Portuguese match race specialist Mariana Lobato. This means that Team Biotherm will contest the leg in 50:50 mode with two men and two women. With on-board reporter Anne Beaugé, there are even more women than men on board.
Team Biotherm got the stage off to a brilliant start in this constellation: the mixed team won the start before Itajaí and initially led the fleet. This was also due to the fact that two overzealous teams, Charlie Enright's Team 11th Hour Racing and Guyot Environnement - Team Europe, made unnecessary early starts. Both had to return to the starting line in initially light winds of around nine knots, rectify their mistakes and take up the chase. Team Guyot managed this better and faster than the Americans.
I wouldn't drop out if I had the feeling that they could do better with me." (Boris Herrmann)
One hour after the start, Team Biotherm continued to lead the fleet ahead of the overall leaders "Holcim - PRB" and "Malizia - Seaexplorer". The team led by Will Harris on the German yacht defended its top three position after the opening laps off Itajaí at the exit gate. Team boss Boris Herrmann is taking a break as planned on this leg and is in Hamburg with his family.
"I'm taking on project tasks, meeting partners, planning for the future and I'm a family man," says the ocean-going professional about the one-month break from sailing on his fifth circumnavigation. He doesn't believe that his team is at a disadvantage due to his absence: "I wouldn't take a break if I had the feeling that they could do better with me."
"All five teams can win this stage"
In his forecast for the distribution of chances on leg four of the Ocean Race, Boris Herrmann warned against exaggerated expectations: "It would be rubbish to think: we won the last leg, so we'll win this one too." His conviction: "It's still like at the start of the Ocean Race: all five teams can win. Anything is possible."
Team Malizia had kept its sailing wardrobe for the complex fourth leg from the South to the North Atlantic a secret before the start. The competition should not find out about the plans too early. Boris Herrmann explained: "We are sailing the fourth leg with an asymmetric large spinnaker." The decision is based on the experience of leg two and the hope for more power for "Malizia - Seaexplorer" in smooth seas and light winds.
"We have found things that can be done better"
Boris Herrmann explains: "That was the mistake on stage two. We hadn't realised that the teams would still be changing sails in Cape Verde. Some of them then took their spinnaker on board or already had it with them. Then everyone except Team Holcim - PRB and us had a spinnaker on board. And when sailing downwind away from Cape Verde, we were travelling much deeper and faster. That was a bit of a trauma for the team, which was completely left behind during that phase."
According to Herrmann, his team now knows the boat much better. "We have found many things that can be done better. For example, not putting quite so much weight at the front. "That's quite unusual. With the classic Verdier hull designs, you already have all the weight at the front, perhaps even sleeping at the front. But that doesn't work for our ship with its hull shape."
Stage four takes the fleet back to the northern hemisphere
Team Malizia will be represented on the fourth stage by Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper, who has fully recovered from her concussion on stage three, and navigator Nico Lunven. New on board is Frenchman Christopher Pratt, who brings a lot of Imoca experience with him. Pratt has already sailed with greats such as Jérémie Beyou and Armel Le Cléac'h. He has achieved four podium finishes in the two-handed classic Transat Jacques Vabre.
With the fourth leg, the Ocean Race fleet bids farewell to the southern hemisphere. It will sail along the South American and North American east coast up the Atlantic to the US harbour of Newport. The boats are expected to arrive there after around 18 days around 10 May. With a five-point lead, the frontrunners from Team Holcim - PRB could only lose their commanding lead in the overall classification (19 points) on the Ocean Race account if Team Malizia were to drop out and win at the same time.
Complicated! Extremely varied! Challenging! Click here for the preview of stage four:
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
