With just over 200 nautical miles left to race (as of 1800 UTC on Saturday 11 February) the results of Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 remain as uncertain as ever.
The second, third and fourth-placed IMOCA boats are within just four miles on the advantage line as they race in light, flukey, changeable conditions.
Meanwhile, the fifth-placed boat is currently the second fastest in the fleet, having made up over 400 miles in the past two days.
The reason for the close racing is a ridge of high pressure which is bringing sunshine and hot temperatures to Cape Town. What it isn’t bringing is wind.
“It looks like we’re sailing on a lake at the moment,” said Will Harris from Team Malizia early on Saturday. “You wouldn’t believe we’re 300 miles south of Cape Town at nearly 40 degrees south latitude. Flat water, 10 knots of wind…”
Malizia has since found a way out as the boat is not only the closest to the finish (216.3nm as of 1800 UTC) but also the fastest, at just under 20 knots.
The middle teams still have to push through this windless void to reach Cape Town and the slow speeds have seen them compress to within shouting distance of each other. All this after 4,500 nautical miles of racing.
“We’re racing into a wall of no wind,” is the way Sam Goodchild on Team Holcim-PRB explains the situation. “We’re all choosing where we go into it, and then you hope you can get through it more quickly than the others to get to Cape Town. It’s probably going to be quite a close finish.”
The crew on 11th Hour Racing Team would seem to agree — perhaps no surprise as they, Holcim-PRB and Biotherm are so close they appear as one on the tracker.
“When Si Fi [Simon Fisher] runs fleet projections, in other words simulates where each boat will go based on optimum courses for the weather they have wherever on the map they are, we all arrive at the finish together. So, while we’ve worked hard to get ourselves in a safer position and worked hard to stay in front of Holcim, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the next 24 hours,” writes Amory Ross.
“In Top Gun you would call this a dogfight, a finish like this, no?” said Kevin Escoffier, skipper of Team Holcim-PRB.
Call it what you want: there is an exciting, close finish on the horizon within the next 24 hours in Leg 2 of The Ocean Race. Cape Town, a host city in 12 of 14 editions of The Ocean Race, is primed and ready to receive the fleet…in whatever order they arrive.
The ETA for Cape Town is near noon UTC on Sunday 12 February. Irish viewers can catch live coverage on Eurosport and discovery+.
Leg Two Rankings at 1800 UTC, 11 February
- Team Malizia, distance to finish, 215.4 miles
- 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 13.7 miles
- Team Holcim-PRB, distance to lead, 14 miles
- Biotherm, distance to lead, 17.2 miles
- GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to lead, 69 miles
Find the latest fleet positions on the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
