The Ocean Race: Fleet Now Pointing at the Leg 2 Finish Line

9th February 2023

Anthony Marchand cleaning the lazy sheet mess on Biotherm during Day 15 of Leg 2 (Wednesday 8 February) Credit: Anne Beauge/Biotherm

11th Hour Racing Team is leading the way in Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 on Thursday evening (9 February) as the five IMOCA teams gybed away from the ice exclusion zone along 45-degrees south latitude overnight, turning to race towards the Cape Town finishing line.

There is now less than 800 nautical miles to run but a major obstacle remains — a ridge of high pressure with very light winds between the fleet and Cape Town.

The wind is forecast to build in from the west, with the trailing boats GUYOT environnement-Team Europe and Biotherm carrying the breeze up to the leaders.

There is a very real possibility of all five teams finding themselves together on final approach to Cape Town, despite being separated by nearly 350 nautical miles on the rankings at 2000 UTC today.

In fact, the leaders have slowed down over the course of the day, the trailing boats making better speeds and closing the gap.

Charlie Enright, skipper of 11th Hour Racing Team, described the situation: “[We are shooting] up towards Cape Town, which is a northeasterly trajectory and where we will encounter a ridge and the whole fleet will compress and we’ll have to be on our toes: it will be first in, first out.

“We could bob around for a while and anyone could pass anybody. Then we will end this leg with a gruelling 100-mile coastal race… We’ve got to stay fresh to the end.”

That won’t be easy. This has been a gruelling leg already and with the ETA slipping by two or three days, the teams are low on food. They’ll have been rationing supplies for some days already, adding to the physical and mental stress of the final days of Leg 2.

Salvation lies ahead in Cape Town, where a warm welcome awaits at the Ocean Live Park in the V+A Waterfront on Sunday 12 February.

Leg Two Rankings at 2000 UTC, 9 February

11th Hour Racing Team, distance to finish, 785.1 miles
Team Holcim-PRB, distance to lead, 23.7 miles
Team Malizia, distance to lead, 49.3 miles
Biotherm, distance to lead, 111.9 miles
GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to lead, 348 miles

Find the latest fleet positions on the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.

Published in Ocean Race

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