Biotherm in The Ocean Race Europe: Objective Med

Biotherm in The Ocean Race Europe © DR

With barely enough time to savour their victory, it is game on once again! Indeed, after a short 72-hour break in Portsmouth, the Biotherm team and their six rivals are preparing to take the start of the second leg of The Ocean Race Europe.

Their next destination is 1,400 miles away in Cartagena, southern Spain, via an initial ranking and fly-by in Matosinhos/ Porto (Portugal). Stretching from the English Channel to the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar, this second opus is both the longest and most 'rewarding' in terms of points. The start is this Sunday at 16:55 hours local time. Paul Meilhat, Amélie Grassi, Sam Goodchild and Jack Bouttell are ready to go!

Twenty times over, put your work back on the loom... Though this call for diligence and revision by Nicolas Boileau was aimed at writers and poets, it can easily be applied to the sailors competing in The Ocean Race Europe: set foot on land, take a quick breather and then immediately get back into the swing of the competition. Through until the journey's end in Montenegro, the time for rest and celebration will be sweet but short-lived

Warm hearts, cool heads

Nonetheless, in Portsmouth the break has been put to good use by the Biotherm team: "We've made the most of every possible moment to preserve our energy, get some rest and recharge our batteries, admits Paul Meilhat. Both the sailing team and the shore crew are confident as a group."

A victory (the team's first) also has the power to warm hearts and inject a positive energy into everyone's minds. "At the finish in England, there was a wonderful moment of shared joy, but we didn't get carried away. Everyone got back down to work very quickly after that. There's still a long way to go and it's bound to be action-packed over the coming weeks so we're keeping a cool head."

This is particularly true given that, in theory, the profile of this second leg, and in particular the opening miles to the north-west tip of Brittany, are unlikely to favour the potential of the monohull Biotherm, the oldest IMOCA of the fleet. "We'll need to dig deep and rally together if we're not immediately at the front," explains Paul.

The low-down on the second leg with Benjamin Schwartz

1/ A long diagonal sprint down to Cape Finisterre

The first few hours of racing will be very quick in a well-established E'ly breeze (15/20 knots), which will enable the IMOCAs to power along downwind on a single tack (port): a drag race, which will take them as far as the north-west tip of Brittany, around the Ushant TSS.

From there they can expect a transition phase (occluded front) as they tackle the passage across the Bay of Biscay, before latching onto a moderate north-westerly wind, which will accompany them (still on a single tack, this time on starboard!) as far as Cape Finisterre.

2/ Portuguese trade wind and an intermediate ranking at Porto

Another acceleration is then on the cards along the Iberian peninsula in the famous Portuguese trade wind (15/20 knots of north-westerly wind). The fleet will initially need to aim towards a virtual mark around 155 miles offshore of Portugal, before setting a course for the first important objective: a finish line positioned in Matosinhos, to the north of Porto, which will enable an intermediate ranking to be drawn up at the midway point (adding to the points tally). After a 3-hour 'fly-by' in Matosinhos, the teams will hit the racetrack again and rekindle their ties with the 'Portuguese trades' as far as Cabo de San Vicente (the south-west tip of Portugal): more downwind conditions in a meaty breeze before they hang a left in the Gulf of Cadiz.

3/ Strait of Gibraltar and an uncertain Mediterranean

Next up, the competitors will enter the Strait of Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean. The prevailing light and stormy conditions to the south of Spain would seem to indicate an uncertain final sprint to Cartagena, where the fleet's ETA is 23 August.