The Ocean Race Leg 3: back up to speed
![The Ocean Race Leg 3: back up to speed](/resizer/picscache/730x450c50/47066e58c177ff68c3d08a1a3d0b47a1.jpg)
The fleet is enjoying stronger winds, faster speeds, and incredibly close racing.
The four IMOCAs pushing east through the southern latitudes of the Pacific Ocean are seeing better speeds today, following a weekend of light winds.
Racing along the ice exclusion limit at 52-degrees south, the teams are in 15 to 25 knots of wind, and average speeds are back up near 20 knots.
20.03.2023 © Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia / The Ocean Race
And it is still incredibly, impossibly close racing - at 1500 UTC on Monday, the four boats are separated by just 2 nautical miles on the tracker leaderboard, and 3.5 miles north to south.
"We are quite fast," said Kevin Escoffier on the leading Team Holcim PRB. "I think when we are close to the other boats we are ok with the speed... But each time we get fast and away from the others, they come back with wind from behind."
Climb the mast with skipper Paul Meilhat of Biotherm:
"We are going well, almost in the middle of the pacific..." said Nico Lunven from Team Malizia.
"The fleet is very compressed together so we are able to monitor the other boats quite well to check whether we are sailing faster or slower, higher or lower than the others."
"It's all very close, the fleet is back together, it's like a complete re-start," agreed Justine Mettreaux on 11th Hour Racing Team. "It's going to be interesting. A lot to play for over the coming days."
The Ocean Race 2022-23 - 17 March 2023, Leg 3 onboard 11th Hour Racing Team. Sunset through the aft hatch. © Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing / The Ocean Race
"It's crazy," said skipper Charlie Enright. "Despite the fact that there are these boats right here (beside us), we are just trying to race ourselves, not change our philosophy.
There is a lot of race left and paticularly before Cape Horn we know that there is going to be some big weather. So we really want to keep this boat in one piece and we'll go from there."
The longer range forecast is for more 'southern ocean' type conditions on the approach to Cape Horn next weekend, when the fleet will be squeezed between an ice exclusion zone that is unusually far north due to confirmed ice sightings and perhaps the most infamous rocky outcropping in the world, which will force them to dive far to the south, dipping as far as 57-degrees south.
The Ocean Race 2022-23 - 18 March 2023, Leg 3 Day 21 onboard Team Holcim - PRB. Sam Goodchild checking the sails. © Julien Champolion | polaRYSE / Holcim - PRB / The Ocean Race
Very strong westerly winds - and an accompanying sea state upwards of six metres - is the current prediction for Cape Horn, so the sailors have enjoyed their last days of relative calm with two weeks of racing left to Itajaí, Brazil.
The latest positions are on the Race Tracker and the leaderboard is available here
The latest news is at www.theoceanrace.com and you can follow sailing’s greatest round-the-world challenge on Eurosport with every leg departure live and on-demand on discoveryplus.com or Eurosport.com
Ti Potrebbe Interessare Anche
37^ America's Cup: Rob Wilson coaching corner di INEOS Britannia in vista della regata...
Per tutti i team che partecipano alla 37a America's Cup Louis Vuitton, uno dei ruoli chiave è probabilmente quello degli allenatori, che rappresentano...
37^ America's Cup: Ben Ainslie attende con ansia la regata preliminare
Uno dei team più seguiti della Louis Vuitton 37a America's Cup è stato senza dubbio il Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, che fin dall'inizio...
Campionato Italiano Team Race Optimist: a Marina di Ravenna vince la Fraglia Vela...
Marina di Ravenna, 23 luglio 2024 - Si è chiuso ieri, con la vittoria della Fraglia Vela Riva il Campionato Italiano Team Race Optimist, evento...
37^ America's Cup: un mese alla regata preliminare finale
Manca solo un mese all'inizio della terza e ultima regata preliminare della 37a America's Cup, che inizierà giovedì 22 agosto 2024 e si concluderà...
37^ America's Cup: Terry Htchinson guarda alla terza regata preliminare
Rappresentare lo yacht club più famoso del mondo potrebbe essere un peso per alcuni, ma non per il New York Yacht Club American Magic, uno dei team...
Jajo Dutchsail Woman vince l'Eurosat 69F Youth European Championship 2024 mentre...
Acquafresca (Lago di Garda) - L'EUROSAF 69F Youth European Championship 2024 si è concluso presso il Acquafresca Sports Center lungo la sponda veneta...
Youth Championship: le parole a caldo degli Azzurrini sul Garda
Sei titoli mondiali, sei medaglie d’oro, il Nations Trophy alzato al cielo: il bilancio della giovane vela italiana al grande Youth Sailing World...
Motonautica, fine settimana sfortunato per Martina Barbarini in Estonia al Campionato...
Le noie al motore non hanno permesso a Martina Barbarini della C&B Racing Team Academy di essere competitiva a Tallin in Estonia, nella gara del Campionato...
37^ America's Cup: Max Sirena si concentra in vista della regata preliminare finale...
Chiunque abbia seguito il programma di ricognizione congiunta negli ultimi due anni sarà ben consapevole di quanto Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sia...