The Ocean Race Leg 3: repairs and racing along the ice limit

The race continues while each team battles to keep boats operating in racing trim.
Following the distribution of points at the scoring gate on Sunday, teams are now consolidating their positions and working through job lists to keep the boats in racing condition.
On Monday evening, 11th Hour Racing Team revealed the latest challenge for their crew to overcome - a badly torn mainsail, along a load-bearing seam of the sail at the first reef point.
"We can't use the full main or the first reef because of the rip," explained Jack Bouttell moments after it happened. "It's quite hard to repair on board, nearly impossible I think, because of where it is in a structural part of the sail."
The Ocean Race 2022-23 - 13 March 2023, Leg 3 onboard 11th Hour Racing Team. A twilight gybe has the cockpit full of lamp light. © Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing / The Ocean Race
But given more time to assess and reflect, skipper Charlie Enright confirmed this team would attempt to do just that - make a repair and keep racing:
"We did just stop and take a look at the yacht and assess and we made the decision as a group to get the boat to Brazil for some TLC as we have a number of things hampering our performance at the moment.
"We talked about stopping, whether in New Zealand or Tasmania, but ultimately decided that we feel safe in proceeding.
Given the weather ahead of us there will be some (competitive) opportunities but we're really racing ourselves right now. We'll see what the future brings..."
The Ocean Race 2022-23 - 13 March 2023, Leg 3 onboard Biotherm. During Ian inspection after crossing the scoring gate a crack in the longitudinal structure of the boat was detected. Anthony Marchand and skipper Paul Meilhat applied layers of carbon fibre to repair it. © Ronan Gladu / Biotherm
He's likely referring to another compression in the fleet that is in the current weather forecast and fleet routings to come towards the end of the week.
As happened in the days before the scoring gate, the leading boat will bump into a high pressure ridge with lighter winds and the trailing boats will bring more wind with them.
The lighter conditions could be an opportunity for more effective repairs as well.
The Biotherm team is facing issues too, having discovered damage to a longitudinal frame that helps support to the structure of the boat.
See video here:
"There is a longitudinal frame that has cracked over a span of three meters, so we are looking into how to fix it with the shore team," said skipper Paul Meilhat in a French interview. "It seems not to be a key structural frame so we’ll have to fix it, but it’s no big deal. It shouldn’t affect the rest of the race and we might only lose a little bit of time.
We’re fixing this be we keep going forward - normal but not pushing it too much."
Team Malizia also had work to complete on Monday.
"We noticed that the foil ram had come loose on the port side - we think from all the shaking around as we pushed full speed to the scoring gate had taken a toll," said co-skipper Will Harris.
14 March 2023, The Ocean Race 2022-23, Leg 3 onboard 11th Hour Racing Team. Malama gybes east near the Antarctic ice exclusion zone. © Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing / The Ocean Race
"Rosie and Boris spent a few long hours taking the ram off and cleaning up the thread and screwing it back together in a way that it won't happen again. We also noticed the starboard side was close to coming off as well. So 8 hours of hard work but we managed to fix it and we can carry on in a strong place."
At the front of fleet, Team Holcim-PRB has generally been a bit quieter about sharing equipment problems they may be facing. But certainly, based on performance, whatever challenges they have aren't slowing the team down.
A view of the tracker today will reveal the leader has a strategy of staying south, short gybing down the ice exclusion zone in the Furious 50s at about 52-degrees south latitude. But skipper Kevin Escoffier will be looking over his shoulder - the forecast shows the fleet coming together by the end of the week, making for close racing in the second half of leg 3.
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
The Ocean Race Leg 3: from Point Nemo towards Cape Horn
It's a drag race towards Cape Horn with the weather beginning to turn. The Ocean Race fleet passed Point Nemo just after 17:30 UTC on...
XX edizione della Regata dei Cetacei. La competizione velica a tutela dell'ambiente...
Educare atleti, adulti e giovani, alla salvaguardia e alla tutela della ricca biodiversità del mar Mediterraneo, uno dei più trafficati al...
The Ocean Race Leg 3: close together, far from home
The Ocean Race is still racing close together as they approach the most isolated place on the planet. The four IMOCAs charging towards Cape Horn...
A Napoli la vela protagonista con la classe olimpica 49er
Vittoria dell'equipaggio della Marina Militare Crivelli Visconti-Calabrò davanti a Marchesini-Semeraro. L’equipaggio Uberto Crivelli...
Campionato Intercircoli 2023: brillano Tekno, Articolo V, Sbanca, Pully e GS Design...
Sabato 18 marzo si è svolta la seconda prova del Campionato Intercircoli 2023, ambientata a sud della Lanterna all’interno del campo “Charlie” messo...
Il J24 La Superba della Marina Militare vince la Regata Nazionale di Anzio
La seconda tappa del Circuito Nazionale J24, ben organizzata dal Circolo della Vela di Roma, si è conclusa dopo sei belle e combattute prove di...
Vesuvio Race, la regata delle isole del golfo
- Sabato 25 marzo da Torre Annunziata a Castellammare 70 miglia lambendo Ischia, Capri, Procida e la Costiera Sorrentina - Quaranta imbarcazioni...
The Ocean Race Leg 3: back up to speed
The fleet is enjoying stronger winds, faster speeds, and incredibly close racing. The four IMOCAs pushing east through the southern...
Spettacolare conclusione a Taranto della prima Regata Nazionale Open Skiff
- Conclusa con il programma completo di 10 regate la 1^ Regata nazionale Open Skiff di Taranto - Condizioni ideali nel Mar Grande per i giovani velisti,...