Duel Remains for Final Leg 3 Podium Position in The Ocean Race

3rd April 2023

Leg 3, Day 34 (Saturday 1 April) onboard 11th Hour Racing Team, with Jack Bouttell and Justine Mettraux on the bow during a sail change Credit: Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing/The Ocean Race

With The Ocean Race Leg 3 winner Team Malizia and second-place finisher Team Holcim-PRB safe in Itajaí, the battle on the water for third place has closed up dramatically over the past 24 hours.

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm crew has realised an incredible gain on 11th Hour Racing Team, making up more than 100 miles on the leaderboard as of 1600 UTC on Monday (3 April).

The IMOCA pair are separated east/west by about 80 miles, but in terms of distance to finish are now virtually tied.

Both crews are showing incredible resilience in the face of adversity as each team has suffered more than its share of damage in the five weeks of racing to date. A race for third place isn’t the race they were dreaming about when this leg started in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, the weather isn’t ideal for making fast progress to the finish — light to moderate winds, upwind — but should provide for some good racing.

“We have had highs and lows, seen joy, frustration, courage and heartache. We’ve been fast. We’ve been broken. Above all, thus far, we’ve been safe,” said 11th Hour Racing Team skipper Charlie Enright on Sunday afternoon.

“The magnitude of what we’ve done hasn’t yet set in, nor should it have, it’s never over till it’s over! We have 500 miles or so to go, and two or three potential points on the table.

“Everyone and every boat has been pushed to the limit and beyond. We need to get to Itajaí as fast as possible, for the points, for the physical and mental rest and, most importantly, to be preparing Mālama for the next leg, into our hometown of Newport, Rhode Island.”

That last point can’t be overstated. All of the teams have lengthy work lists for their boats, and 11th Hour Racing Team and Biotherm are no exception. Their technical teams will be looking on with envy on Monday as the Team Malizia and Holcim PRB boats are now out of the water and work begins in the technical zone at the Ocean LIve Park.

The sooner Mālama and Biotherm arrive, the sooner the ‘race to repair’ can begin.

Leg Three Rankings at 1600 UTC, 3 April

Team Malizia, finished on 02/04/2023 at 05:20:28 UTC
Team Holcim-PRB, finished on 02/04/2023 at 10:56:20 UTC
11th Hour Racing Team, distance to finish, 363.5 miles
Biotherm, distance to lead, 3.5 miles

Find the latest fleet positions on the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.

Published in Ocean Race

Tagged under

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.