The Ocean Race: Record of slowness in the doldrums!
by Team HOLCIM - PRB 30 Jan 2023 08:49 PST
30 January 2023
Holcim-PRB - The Ocean Race © Georgia Schofield | PolaRYSE | Holcim-PRB
It is the 4th day at sea of the Leg 2 of The Ocean Race, between Mindelo in Cape Verde and Cape Town in South Africa. And time is passing slowly, too slowly for Holcim-PRB in this round the world race. Kevin Escoffier, Sam Goodchild, Tom Laperche, Susann Beucke and Georgia Schofield (OBR) are having a hard time in this long crossing of the Doldrums...
"It will be one of the longest time in the doldrums that I've ever experienced. As well as for the crew, even if for some of them it's their first time. It's off to a good start ! " commented Kevin Escoffier. In 24 hours, Holcim-PRB has only covered 74 miles (between 8am yesterday morning and 8am this Monday), which is a very small portion of the route! The atmosphere tonight in the middle of the Atlantic was like a Turner painting without light. The landscape was superb even if it is a bit scary when you are racing. Not a breath of air, an oily sea, intense black colors, a few clouds in the distance that were difficult to spot and a small unpleasant swell that made the sails flap... They had to wait for the first sun rays to get a better idea of the conditions offered by the Doldrums the sailors of Holcim-PRB will have to deal with throughout the day and probably a good part of the coming night.
In this area where the air masses of the northern hemisphere and those of the southern hemisphere clash, Kevin Escoffier and his crew have no choice... If they are usually the masters of anticipation and planning, they have to put aside their methods here and forget for a few hours the thrill of high-speed sailing. Trying to get the best position, exploiting the slightest wind, imagining how to get out of this particularly thick zone in which they have already been sailing for more than 24 hours... In this context, intuition overtakes rationality sometimes.
And Holcim-PRB is doing quite well. Kevin Escoffier and his crew are 3rd this afternoon. The gaps have melted and the green and blue boat is sailing 32,7 miles (at 3:00 pm UTC) from Guyot Environnement, the new leader. At the east, the Franco-German crew is progressing closer to the direct route. But the challenge is to be the most southerly of the fleet to hope to be the first to speed up again. This is the case for Holcim-PRB, which is making good progress close to Biotherm, even if the speedometers of the two monohulls seem to be out of whack... Paul Meilhat's average speed over 24 hours is 2.5 knots, Holcim-PRB's 2.7 knots. Speeds that one would never want to reach aboard these high-tech monohulls.
"You've got to be patient. We have to keep the boat moving south. The goal is to be as far south as possible to catch wind, the trade winds of the southern hemisphere. Today, I hope that we will be out of here in about twenty hours, between 50 and 75 miles. Everything is going well on board. It also allows us to rest, to do a few things, to dry the boat, to optimize the load. All the weight is on the bow, everyone sleeps at the front of the boat. These are conditions that we don't really like. It makes the sails suffer, as they flap a lot, but that's how it is. We are in contact with 11th Hour Racing Team, with Biotherm and also Guyot who has taken a very eastern option. And Team Malizia took a westerly option because they were a bit behind, so they had to try something. It's an interesting race." said the skipper of the GO CIRCULAR project.
The atmosphere aboard the Swiss monohull is applied to not miss any opportunity to get out of this windless zone. The fleet is tightly packed and it is likely to start again in a group. Each mile gained on the opponent is therefore particularly precious. The beginning of this week looks a bit unnatural for the sailors who are constantly looking for speed. But it is only once they hit the SE'ly trade winds that they will pick up the pace for a long tack, initially towards the Brazilian coast.
Track the race here.