Please select your home edition
Edition
Hella Dual Colour Floodlights - Top 728 x 90px - 1 jpg

Wild start to The Ocean Race Leg 3 from Cape Town

by The Ocean Race 26 Feb 08:10 PST 26 February 2023
The Ocean Race 2022-23 start of Leg 3 in Cape Town © Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race

It was an extraordinary 'stop-go' type of start to Leg 3 of The Ocean Race in Table Bay as the five-boat IMOCA fleet set out on their 12,750 nautical mile adventure towards Itajaí in Brazil.

The race started with two and a half laps of an inshore course to give the crowds lining the Cape Town shore an opportunity to marvel at these hydrofoiling boats before they headed out into the big blue yonder of the Southern Ocean.

A pod of three whales sighted in the original starting area meant the race committee had to make a late change to setting up the race course. With the start line now impacted by the wind shadow of Table Mountain, there was very little wind for the fleet as the seconds counted down to start time.

The skippers must have been wondering why they had all put in two reefs to reduce mainsail area. As the start gun fired, the closest boat to the start was Biotherm. The other four boats were stranded, just over a hundred metres away.

It wasn't long before Paul Meilhat's team found 25 knots of wind gusting around the edge of Table Mountain and his Biotherm team shot away into an impressive lead as the rest of the fleet drifted across the start line well after the start had opened.

Biotherm continued to stretch away to what was almost a 600 metre advantage over the rest of the fleet, who eventually hooked into the 25-knot wind and accelerated up to speeds of 30 knots or more.

Team Malizia had crossed the start line in second, followed by GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, with 11th Hour Racing Team narrowly leading Team Holcim-PRB over the start line.

However, as Biotherm completed the first lap of the course, Meilhat saw his boatspeed drop from 20-plus knots down to less than 2 knots as the shadow of Table Mountain reasserted its influence. The whole fleet compressed and Biotherm's seemingly unassailable lead vanished into thin air.

Team Malizia was first to rediscover the breeze for the start of the second inshore lap, closely followed by 11th Hour Racing Team. Meanwhile Biotherm dropped from first to last as Meilhat's team were overtaken in the light airs patch by Holcim-PRB and GUYOT environnement - Team Europe.

Once the fleet was back into the breeze, it was another gusty, edge-of-the-seat downwind ride to the bottom of the course, the boats just maintaining control in the strong, blustery conditions. At some moments, two reefs didn't look like enough with the boats nearly overpowered.

Biotherm then had a problem and it was clear the team was struggling to control its sails. A radio call to the Race Committee saw the team suspend racing to return to port to make repairs.

"We broke the strop on one end of the mainsheet," said Paul Meilhat at the dock. "Then the mainsheet went too far on the gybe and pulled off the end of the track and we lost all the bearings in the system. So we needed to come in to make this repair and replacement. We shouldn't lose a lot of time if we do this now. It's not a big issue, but we need to fix it."

Then it was 11th Hour Racing Team who were the next to suspend racing with damage to a batten. But the American team elected to stay out at sea to make repairs and serve the minimum two-hour period.

"We have broken two wing tips on the mainsail," said team CEO Mark Towill. "We actually have two spares on board, so we could make the repair, but that would leave us with no spares for the Southern Ocean. So we'll get the spares on board to be prepared for the long leg... This is the prudent thing to do."

Biotherm can resume racing at 1505 UTC, 11th Hour Racing Team at 1507 UTC.

Meanwhile, out at sea, Team Malizia was the first to find the wind around the headlands off Cape Town and started to make their way on Leg 3, along with Team Holcim-PRB and GUYOT environnement - Team Europe.

The forecast is for winds in the 25-30 knot range with 2-3 metre swells. Leg 3 is proving to be a challenge in the very first hours.

Follow the racing at www.theoceanrace.com and www.eurosport.com/sailing

Related Articles

The Ocean Race launch Metaverse experience
An experience to engage fans and businesses in a new way The Ocean Race launched a metaverse experience pilot today with Virtual Regatta and Accenture to engage fans and businesses in a new way with the world-renowned, global yacht race. Posted on 28 Mar
The Ocean Race Leg 3 Day 21
All lined up with one way to go On Saturday it seemed as if the race couldn't get any closer. By Sunday morning UTC that was proved wrong. Today, all four teams are lined up on a 13 mile line. Posted on 19 Mar
The Ocean Race Leg 3 Day 19
Coming together in the not-so-Furious 50s As forecast, lighter than usual conditions just ahead of the fleet have provided an effective re-start of leg 3, just after the four IMOCAs reached the halfway point of the longest stage in the history of the race. Posted on 17 Mar
The Ocean Race Leg 3 Day 18
Steady progress towards Cape Horn Team Holcim PRB retains its lead on Thursday, as the fleet compresses to within 100 miles. As per the forecast yesterday, the leader is slowing slightly and the trailing boats are nibbling into the lead Posted on 16 Mar
The Ocean Race Leg 3 Day 8
All four race boats are in the Roaring 40s, with speeds to match Team Holcim-PRB continues to hold a 500-plus mile lead on leg 3 of The Ocean Race, but the pursuing pack of three is making small gains by pushing forward at record-breaking pace. Posted on 5 Mar
GUYOT environnement Team Europe: No time to lose
Four days of crew tension after delamination of a hull bottom panel GUYOT environnement - Team Europe has reached Cape Town and brought the yacht safely back to port after the suspension of the third leg of The Ocean Race. Posted on 5 Mar
GUYOT environnement Team Europe prepare for repair
Cautiously sailing back towards Cape Town 600 nautical miles after the start of the third leg of The Ocean Race, skipper Benjamin Dutreux's crew found that part of the hull had become unstable and delaminated. Posted on 3 Mar
The Ocean Race Leg 3 Day 5
Team Holcim-PRB escapes to the east, repairs underway on Team Malizia's mast In this edition of The Ocean Race, Kevin Escoffier's Team Holcim-PRB has selected Sia's "Unstoppable" as its team song for dockout and stage ceremonies, and early into Leg 3 it has never seemed more appropriate. Posted on 2 Mar
The Ocean Race Cape Leg 3: An enthralling ride
A monster of a leg awaits the fleet - longest in 50 year history of the race At over 12,750 nautical miles, Leg 3 will be the longest ever in the 50 years since this race began. When the boats cast off from the dock at midday in Cape Town on Sunday, this will be the most emotional departure for friends and family. Posted on 25 Feb
The Ocean Race Leg 2 Day 13
The rankings have flipped over the weekend Skipper Charlie Enright and his crew held their nerve over an early decision to take a westerly routing on the descent down the Atlantic and the choice paid dividends on Saturday afternoon and overnight into Sunday. Posted on 6 Feb
ASB23-SW-1456x180-Banner-Bottom-REV-02North Sails 2021 Innovation - FOOTERUpffront 2020 Foredeck Club SW FOOTER