Francesca Clapcich: 'Hot' doesn't even come close… Leg 3 of The Ocean Race Europe was brutal
by Francesca Clapcich 31 Aug 06:53 AEST
A happy arrival in Nice, France, for Team Malizia after Leg 3 of The Ocean Race Europe © Marie Lefloch I Team Malizia
It feels really good to be back on land - and cooler land - following Leg 3 of The Ocean Race Europe. I've never been on a boat with that kind of heat before. It. Was. Brutal.
We left Cartagena in 97oF (36oC) and it felt like it just got hotter and hotter, particularly when we were sailing up the Spanish coastline. Even at night there wasn't much respite. But as we approached the south coast of France, the temperature started to drop which brought a bit of relief, thanks to a huge thunderstorm which brought some cooler air to us out at sea!
In conditions like that, it is really important to keep hydrated and energy levels high, but that's hard to do when you have no desire to eat because it is too hot; I had to make a really conscious effort to keep getting my calories in. We had the watermaker onboard running all the time to create enough water for us to drink - what I would have given for an ice cube or ten!
I'm a bit disappointed in our fifth place as, strategically, I don't think we made any mistakes, we got lucky in a few places, as did the other teams, but it was a good fight right to the end, particularly with Paprec Arkéa.
In certain conditions, at a certain angle, we are definitely suffering compared to the top four boats - I mean, look at Biotherm, they are really fast in all conditions, as are Holcim PRB. But in the right conditions - anything below eight knots in displacement mode, and when the wind is stronger and we are VMG running, the Malizia boat is really, really fast, but you don't get those conditions very often in the Mediterranean, it's mostly upwind, reaching, at different angles.
So the objective for our team for the next leg is, no matter what, to keep trying to get a few more points on the leaderboard as second to fifth is still pretty tight so it's going to be a tight fight right to the end.
At the moment we have a small advantage over my fellow Italian, Ambrogio Beccaria, onboard Mapei, as they didn't finish the first leg and score any points, so we need to make sure that we keep that advantage, and of course Holcim PRB will get average points for the first leg, on their performance from legs 2-5 so things will change right to the very end.
Being the 'local', I've been asked to do the navigation for the next leg so the next few days are going to see me focusing on the weather, having meetings with Marcel van Triest, our strategist, and running the routings. We are only here in France for two days and there are various media events, a Pro-Am, and poster signings, so I'm pleased we got in early this morning as it gives me a few extra hours of rest before I have to get my sailing kit ready again!
The next leg to Genoa is going to take 2.5-3 days and we should be hearing in the next few hours what the route will be. There aren't many options - they could send us all the way around Sardinia, but if the breeze drops, it could take a long time to make it back up to Genoa. The other option is that we cut through the gap between Corsica and Sardinia to the south of Bonifacio. I have my first meeting with Marcel this afternoon and we'll start to make a plan together.
I'm really looking forward to being back in Genoa - I have such happy memories of my last visit there, which was again with The Ocean Race, when we arrived with 11th Hour Racing Team having won the 2022-2023 edition of the round the world race.
I have a big event on September 5 at the Museo del Mar where I'll be sharing a bit more of my story and what I've been up to over the past two years. I can't wait to be there amongst friends, family, and the wider public again.
Hopefully I'll see many of you on the dock for our arrival!
Francesca Clapcich