Freshening winds accelerate the fleet toward French coast after a tricky night of light winds along Mallorca

After a long and slow, hot and sticky night of light airs downwind sailing close along the northern coast of Mallorca the seven IMOCA crews in The Ocean Race Europe are today enjoying fresher and faster conditions as they power northwest in reaching mode towards a course waypoint off the French coast.

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm (FRA) continues to hold the lead, but only after fighting off a sustained attack overnight from Rosalin Kuiper’s Holcim - PRB (SUI), that saw the pair duking it out close to shore as they gybed along the spectacular Mallorcan shore line.

The two boats were neck-and-neck during the night, but it was the French crew that made the most sense of the transition into the stronger winds to eke out an 11-nautical mile lead at midday today.

Behind the leading duo the five-strong chasing pack has spread out somewhat, with a little over 50 nautical miles separating Ambrogio Beccaria’s third-placed Allagrande Mapei (ITA) from Alan Roura’s Team Amaala (SUI) in seventh.

Sweltering conditions in the Mediterranean have been making life on board harder for the sailors who have had little to no rest since leaving Cartagena, Spain on Tuesday heading for Nice in France.

The winds may have been light overnight but that has done nothing to reduce the workload on the sailors who have been constantly trimming sails, strategising over navigation, or changing headsails to optimise performance in the variable breezes.

“I don’t know how many times we changed headsail – maybe five or six times – so it is a lot of work for the crew,” commented Mielhat this morning.

Holcim - PRB’s Carolijn Brouwer described the conditions on board as: “Hot, sticky, sweaty – but fun.”

“It’s pretty intense,” Brouwer said. “It’s hard to keep hydrated and you lose a lot of calories, so we are really trying to eat a lot to get the energy back into the body.

“Going along the northern side of Mallorca was really, really beautiful. We came very close into the shore – there was enough depth there – and at the same time we were battling it out with Biotherm to see who could push further inshore.

The arrival of stronger winds has boosted speeds as the fleet closes in on the French coast close to the island of Poquerolles during the day. But with winds expected to drop again this evening the crews will have to adapt once again.

“As we approach the Poquerolles the wind will be getting lighter again so we will be going back onto the bigger sails,” Brouwer confirmed. “I can’t see us getting much rest. It’s going to be full on from start to finish, but we knew that was the case – that’s what we signed up for.”

With less than 300 nautical miles still to race on Leg 3 – including a rounding of the lonely Giraglia rock off the northern tip of Corsica – Biotherm continues to hold the advantage at the front of the fleet. However, nobody on that boat – or on any in the fleet – will be taking anything for granted, particularly given the unpredictable Mediterranean summer weather.

UPDATE: Thursday afternoon, Race Control issued a race course amendment that shifts the final turning mark of Leg 3 from the actual Ile De La Giraglia (a rocky islet off the northwest tip of Corsica) to a virtual waypoint 20 miles further to the northwest. This has the effect of keeping the fleet a safe distance away from a potentially treacherous night rounding of the ‘rock’ in conditions that are forecast to include thunderstorms and gale force winds.

“The rest of the fleet is not far behind,” said Holcim - PRB helmsman Franck Cammas. “Biotherm is a little bit in front because we fell in a bit of a light spot. But there is a long way to go,” he concluded, giving a knowing smile directly into the Onboard Reporter’s camera lens.

The leading boat is expected to arrive in Nice sometime near 0600 on the morning of Friday August 29, but predicted light winds close to shore could potentially delay the fleet until later in the day.