One day can make a big difference in The Ocean Race. In fact, just a few hours can turn what had been a winning hand into something doubtful.

That’s been the case for GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, who gambled on an easterly line-up for the doldrums and appeared to have made a big gain in the process.

But just a couple days after escaping the clutches of the light winds around the equator, the GUYOT environnement team found itself under a tricky, local weather event that has seen them sailing much slower than their opposition for most of Thursday morning (2 February).

While all of the IMOCA fleet is slowing from the champagne trade-wind conditions of the past 24 hours, none have been impacted more than GUYOT environnement - Team Europe who appear to have run out of luck in the east.

“We have had to make some big manoeuvres in the past hours. We changed the head sail from J0 and J3 to the J2 to sail with it for a few hours,” Sébastien Simon reported from on board.

“We are fighting, we are fighting for every mile,” added skipper Robert Stanjek.

According to Simon, the problem is the ‘long arm’ of the St Helena High: an area of light winds directly between the fleet and Cape Town.

The St Helena High is the reason the fleet is racing south so close to the coast of Brazil, rather than down the African coast or on a more direct, shorter route to Cape Town.

The distance the high-pressure system extends out from Africa into the South Atlantic changes constantly; at the moment GUYOT environnement appears to be on the edge of the light patch.

Although the tracker (as of 1900 UTC) is still showing a slender lead to Stanjek and his crew, that’s based more on their closer distance to Cape Town than the tactical reality of the race, where it appears Team Holcim-PRB — as the most southerly positioned boat — is the leading contender.

Sailor Tom Laperche says his team is focussed on sailing fast and getting the most out of the conditions: “It’s good conditions to go fast in an IMOCA. We are reaching [wind across the side of the boat]. The wind is still good, but it is decreasing a bit now. It is going to keep decreasing and shifting behind us. So we will be more downwind for the next days. It’s warm too!”

Every team in the chasing pack — Biotherm, 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malzia — is hopeful that as the wind eases and shifts, so too does the advantage to those further west. The next 48 hours will reveal it all.

Leg Two Rankings at 1900 UTC, 2 February

1. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to finish, 2910.3 miles
2. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to lead, 16.4 miles
3. Biotherm, distance to lead, 57.6 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 108.3 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 194.7 miles

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

After hitting the speed bump of the doldrums, the five IMOCA yachts competing in The Ocean Race 2022-23 are now eating up the miles on the race south to Cape Town in Leg 2.

Defying conventional wisdom that says ‘west is best’ for a doldrums crossing, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe is holding a slender lead built on sailing less miles since the start via an easterly position compared to the rest of the fleet.

Now it’s a race to the south. All of the boats are enjoying southeast winds in the 17-22 knot range as of Wednesday evening (1 February).

On the hunt to make up miles is the fifth-placed Team Malizia with sailor Rosalin Kuiper saying she’s happy to be back in the tradewinds, sailing fast and looking for opportunities to get back in touch.

“We’re still behind the others. In the doldrums the western side wasn’t too favourable. So that was hard,” Kuiper said. “But at the moment, we have 18 knots of breeze and a true wind angle of about 085 degrees, so this is really good conditions for us.

“But we feel a little bit limited by the foil alarms, so we’re trying to find the right mode and make sure we don’t damage the foils. It’s frustrating because we know there is more potential and speed in the boat. We will keep on pushing.”

Leg Two Rankings at 2000 UTC, 1 February

1. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to finish, 3,181.1 miles
2. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 45.4 miles
3. Biotherm, distance to leader, 74.3 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 107.4 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 179.1 miles

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

As January comes to a close, so does one chapter of Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23. The IMOCA fleet has burst into the southern hemisphere, crossing the equator overnight and escaping the calms of the doldrums.

GUYOT environnement - Team Europe was the first to break through just after 2am UTC on Tuesday (31 January). Five-and-a-half hours later, Team Malizia nudged into the south, and the five-deep IMOCA fleet are now pushing towards the new southeast trade winds.

“This is always dangerous to write, so I do so with trepidation, but it seems like we are out of the doldrums and back into the trades,“” came the message from 11th Hour Racing Team media man Amory Ross. “I’m writing this under clear skies and 14 knots of wind, 20 knots on the speedo, bow in the sky, reaching at great haste due south. Life, for the moment, is good!”

Sunrise in the doldrums from the deck of Team Holcim-PRB on Monday 30 January | Credit: Georgia Schofield/polaRYSE/Holcim-PRB

For the GUYOT environnement crew, the lead was built on a winning gamble: sailing a shorter distance by staying further east. Traditionally, the faster passage through the doldrums has come by sailing extra miles to the west.

“We were always aiming for as much of a straight line to the south as we could and it seems to have paid off,” said skipper Robert Stanjek on a live call back to race headquarters on Tuesday afternoon. “For sure we had a little bit of luck but that was the call of our navigator [Sebastien Simon] and I’m pretty happy of course that we’ve come out in the lead.”

While the fleet enjoys the building southeast trade winds, there is still about 160 nautical miles of leverage between east and west, meaning the boats will be sailing different angles and in different conditions for the immediate future. More ups and downs on the leaderboard can be expected.

“We follow the positions of the other boats in the fleet every hour and it’s a big separation between the boats — it’s ocean racing! We’re not sailing the fastest angle at the moment but we don’t want to give away the height [position to the east] we’ve invested in,” Stanjek concluded.

Timings at the equator:

GUYOT environnement - Team Europe - 31/01/2023 02:05:11 UTC - 5d 07h 55min 11s - 1 269.4 nm - 9.9 kts

Biotherm - 31/01/2023 02:26:35 UTC - 5d 08h 16min 35s - 1 275.8 nm - 9.9 kts

Team Holcim - PRB - 31/01/2023 03:13:44 UTC - 5d 09h 03min 44s - 1 404.0 nm - 10.9 kts

11th Hour Racing Team - 31/01/2023 05:12:26 UTC - 5d 11h 02min 26s - 1413.3 nm - 10.8 kts

Team Malizia - 31/01/2023 07:32:13 UTC - 5d 13h 22min 13s - 1 500.3 nm - 11.2 kts

A first equator crossing is always a rite of passage in the career of a sailor and is celebrated by a visit from “King Neptune” with initiation ceremonies to be completed. This time was no different for the equatorial rookies.

Life on board at these latitudes can be uncomfortable due to the extreme heat, but there is a benefit to all that sunshine — solar power!

“We’re basically running the boat 100 per cent off solar energy. The watermaker, all the instruments can be powered by the sun, so that’s very nice,” said Rosalin Kuiper, on board Team Malizia.

Drone view of Team Malizia crossing the doldrums | Credit: Antoine Auriol/Team Malizia

Leg Two Rankings at 1700 UTC, 31 January

1. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to finish, 3,621.3 miles
2. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 49.4 miles
3. Biotherm, distance to leader, 52.5 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 78.4 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 115.9 miles

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

It’s been a difficult 24 hours for The Ocean Race fleet as the five IMOCA teams become fully engulfed in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, better known as the doldrums.

The light, fickle winds, random storm cells and clouds that bring sudden puffs of wind along with rain and thunder and lightning mean days and nights of uncertainty.

The prize for escape is immense — the promise of steady southeasterly trade winds south of the equator and acceleration towards the final goal, the finish in Cape Town.

Historically, the band of light winds that characterise the doldrums is smaller the further west one is. This has dictated the strategy of all of the teams as they left Cabo Verde. But with Cape Town to the east, there was debate over how many extra miles to sail away from the finish in order to have a potentially easier passage through the doldrums.

At the extremes, GUYOT envirionnement - Team Europe has been trying to cut the corner in the east, while Team Malizia hit the traditionally safer option nearly 200 miles to the west. In between, from east to west, lie Biotherm, Team Holcim-PRB and 11th Hour Racing Team.

“We’re at the gateway to the doldrums and we’re still going fast,” said Team Malizia skipper Will Harris on Sunday evening (29 January). “We’re going twice as fast as the other boats right now and we just need to keep going like this, keep the boat moving. If we get a bit of luck and keep our fingers crossed, maybe we’ll catch up some miles. But let’s see — the doldrums can do anything.”

According to the tracker, “anything” is exactly what is playing out on Monday (30 January).

Malizia has slowed down, after making good gains and closing to within 90 miles on the leaderboard and about 50 miles on the north-south axis.

Interestingly, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe has so far escaped punishment for its easterly track and at 1700 UTC was ahead of the fleet both on the leaderboard and as the most southerly boat.

“The doldrums is really wide this time,” said Sebastien Simon on GUYOT. “It won’t be finished until at least the equator.“”

“No clouds but no wind,” said a subdued Paul Meilhat on Biotherm. “We maybe did only seven or eight miles all night. Not a lot. There is also a little bit of current in front, so when there is no wind sometimes we are probably going backwards. But this morning is better.”

The equator and the crossing into the southern hemisphere is still about 100 miles away and depending on your luck, anywhere between 12 and 24 hours in the future.

Leg Two Rankings at 1700 UTC, 30 January

1. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to finish, 3,890.5 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to leader, 19.8 miles
3. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 29.1 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 43.7 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 84.1 miles

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

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm was the first boat to feel the impact of the doldrums overnight as his crew saw their speed plummet from 14 to four knots just after midnight UTC.

It wasn’t long before Team Holcim-PRB, 11th Hour Racing Team and then GUYOT environnement - Team Europe found themselves in similar circumstances.

In fact, at 1200 UTC today (Sunday 29 January), the only IMOCA boat moving with pace towards Cape Town is Team Malizia, still charging in from behind at about 14 knots.

The distance to leader has been halved from over 230 nautical miles at 1800 UTC last night to just over 100 miles at 1200 UTC on Sunday as The Ocean Race fleet compresses.

“The others are already in the doldrums. We are much further west than them and we still have wind,” said Nico Lunven from Malizia. “We will see for how long it lasts.”

It could be a while yet, as still positioned furthest to the west, Malizia skipper Will Harris has the potential for an easier crossing, while nearly 200 miles to the east, GUYOT skipper Robert Stanjek and his team might be in for a painful couple of days if the forecasts are to be believed.

And grouped in the middle of the east-west spread, and furthest to the south, are Biotherm, Team Holcim-PRB and 11th Hour Racing Team, each hoping that the next cloud and storm cell will bring the momentum they need to transition out the other side.

“The last day has been that old question between strategy and tactics,” said Kevin Escoffier on Saturday afternoon as he balanced the risk of a final gybe to get further west against staying close to Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team. “Strategically, I think we should gybe further west, but tactically we are in a good position with these other boats.”

“Looking at the fleet, I think we’re in a pretty good place,” said Jack Bouttell on 11th Hour Racing Team. “We’re the most western boat [of the leading trio]. We’re happy with that, but it’s going to be a bit of a restart in the doldrums anyway. Just need to stay in touch and manage it well.”

As mentally taxing as the doldrums can be, they are equally a physical challenge. With the different wind shifts, storms and ‘cloud hopping’ strategy of connecting small patches of breeze, the crews can expect a lot of sail changes and manoeuvres between here and the re-establishment of the trade winds.

Leg Two Rankings at 1400 UTC, 29 January

1. Biotherm, distance to finish, 3,984.9 miles
2. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 18.3 miles
3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 23.3 miles
4. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to leader, 35.8 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 101 miles

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

Stakes are high as The Ocean Race fleet begins to settle into position for crossing the equator and passing through the doldrums (officially the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ).

As one can imagine, this area of what Wikipedia describes as “monotonous, windless weather” isn’t a good place for a yacht race. The IMOCA teams will be looking to cross through as quickly as possible and get into the southeast trade winds. But this is easier said than done.

At the moment, a crossing further to the west would appear to be advantageous as the band of light conditions is slightly narrower.

But it’s a balance. Cape Town is still to the southeast, so every mile sailed directly west only adds to the miles eventually sailed towards the finish line. Determining when to make the push south and into the doldrums is the decision being taken right now.

The line-up appears to be GUYOT environnement - Team Europe attempting to cut the corner over 100 nautical miles to the east of Biotherm, who as of noon today (Saturday 28 January) was just 20 miles east of 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Holcim-PRB. Taking a flyer out to the west, behind the fleet, is Team Malizia, who will hope that the others stall and they can gain back the miles they’ve invested in their choice.

“This race isn’t going to be won here, it’s going to be won or lost in the doldrums,” said 11th Hour Racing Team skipper Charlie Enright. “[Our plan is to] go in there close [to the others] and see what happens. Eventually everyone will end up on port and head south at the point they want to cross the doldrums. Once you are in the Doldrums, it’s anyone’s game.”

This weekend, the advantage position on the tracker is potentially at its least accurate, as the tracker can’t account for an undetermined gain that may — or may not — be realised by sailing further west. Keep that in mind until the fleet emerge back into the trade winds on Sunday/Monday.

No rest in the darkness as Paul Meilhat and Amélie Grassi stack sails on Biotherm | Credit: Anne Beauge/Biotherm

One of the other differences to emerge since the start is the speeds and angles the boats can sail according to sail selection. Teams are allowed eight sails on board and the choice appears to have been on whether to carry the A2 headsail.

Amory Ross explains: “There are two camps in the fleet out here: those with A2s and those without. A2s are the big white spinnaker-y things.

“It’s clear Holcim-PRB and Malizia chose not to bring theirs in favour of another sail. Their black A3s require higher, hotter angles to get up to speed and so while ourselves and Biotherm have managed to stay relatively low and in the same stretch of ocean, we’ve lost touch (at times) with Holcim, spearing off to the northwest and out of AIS range.

“You can see the same difference in angles between Malizia and GUYOT, who with their A2 has been much lower all the time and they’ve done well to shave the miles and sail through the back of the fleet.”

Holcim PRB skipper Kevin Escoffier acknowledges they’re feeling some pain.

“The boats in front of us have been a better it seems, but it’s also about the sail choice,“” he explains. “We decided not to take a sail that would have been useful now. We are paying a bit since the start for this choice. But we are doing our best not to lose too much and hopefully in the south Atlantic we will gain with the sail we have and they don’t have. It’s part of the game.”

It will be fascinating game to watch play out this weekend.

Leg Two Rankings at 1500 UTC, 28 January

1. Biotherm, distance to finish, 4,177.7 miles
2. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 4 miles
3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 5.4 miles
4. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to leader, 11.7 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 218.9 miles

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

Lighter conditions doesn’t mean easier racing in Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 as the IMOCA fleet finds itself constantly shifting gears, making sail changes and gybing as the teams zig-zag southwest towards the equator and the doldrums.

Every change in the breeze brings the potential for a sail change. Each move by the opposition brings a decision on whether to match or continue.

It’s exhausting, but can bring some rewards, as it has for GUYOT environnement - Team Europe who are now back with the rest of the fleet.

“We’ve clawed back and made contact with the fleet again, which is super,” said skipper Robert Stanjek. “We’re in a nice position and we can finally compare ourself to another boat live, not just by the numbers.”

The GUYOT boat and Team Malizia had been matching gybes with each other since about 20:00 UTC on Thursday night, but as of Friday afternoon (27 January) the German-flagged team is nearly 100 nautical miles behind the leader.

Further ahead, the leading duo of Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team are doing the same, having left Team Holcim-PRB to duel with the resurgent GUYOT.

“As the trade winds build we want to start getting west but we need to make sure we don’t go too early,” said 11th Hour Racing Team’s Simon Fisher. And this is what we see playing out on the tracker: every move to the west balanced by another gybe south.

There’s a lot at stake here, with a potential leg-winning advantage to be found with a quick doldrums crossing and being first into the trade winds south of the equator.

This will play out over the course of the weekend, with doldrums and equator crossing likely on Sunday.

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

Leg Two Rankings at 1600 UTC, 27 January

1. Biotherm, distance to finish, 4,438.4 miles
2. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 8.5 miles
3. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to leader, 32 miles
4. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 38.2 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 97.9 miles

It was a tense first night in Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 as the IMOCA fleet has sailed south, away from Mindelo and towards the uncertainty of the Doldrums.

It was an exciting start, despite the light conditions, with close quarters action as the fleet leaves Cabo Verde en route to Cape Town.

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm is in the lead on Thursday evening, and along with 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Holcim-PRB has been gybing west away from Sao Filipe.

Further behind, Team Malizia is chasing hard, while GUYOT environnement - Team Europe has been catching up from the back, after leading the fleet around the starting race course.

“This is VMG [velocity made good] racing downwind between the islands,” said Paul Meilhat heading into the night. “We made the choice to use the spinnaker off the start and it’s worked well because we are in front of the others.“”

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

Leg Two Rankings at 1800 UTC, 26 January

1. Biotherm, distance to finish, 4,618.0 miles
2. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 1.9 miles
3. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 8.6 miles
4. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 20.8 miles
5. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to leader, 21.9 miles

After being buffeted by strong trade winds for the duration of the short stopover, the waters off Mindelo, Cabo Verde were relatively calm on Wednesday (25 January) for the start of Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23.

The short stopover marked the first time The Ocean Race has visited West Africa and this island chain, despite it featuring in the race course for all 14 editions as a tactical consideration on the leg from Europe down to the south Atlantic Ocean.

Crowds flocked to Ocean Live Park to welcome the VO65 and IMOCA fleets or arrival this past weekend, regardless of the hour, and aided by the entertainment and concert programme that kept the OLP hopping late in the night throughout the stopover.

On shore, The Ocean Race Summit Mindelo gathered over 300 ocean advocates in Cabo Verde on Monday 23 January to discuss redoubling efforts to protect the ocean.

Out on the race course on Wednesday, the IMOCA teams had a short lap of a reaching course to navigate before heading out to sea, destined for Cape Town, some 4,000 nautical miles — and two weeks — of racing away.

It was Robert Stanjek’s GUYOT environnement - Team Europe and Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team who burst off the line with speed, just ahead of Biotherm and Holcim-PRB, with Team Malizia last across the line.

On the reach out, GUYOT environnement held off Holcim-PRB to lead around the mark and on the return through he start line before heading out to sea, Stanjek and his crew showed good boat handling through the manoeuvres to lead the fleet out to sea.

A short time later, it was Holcim-PRB with 11th Hour Racing Team to windward and in better wind, leading GUYOT einvironnement - Team Europe, Biotherm and Team Malizia. But the racing is extremely close and the deck will surely be shuffled a few more times overnight.

The wind was in the 7-10-knot range from the northeast throughout the start period, but is forecast to ease overnight, a far cry from the 25-knot trades that have been a feature since arrival.

Teams parade ahead of the start of Leg 2 in Mindelo, Cabo Verde | Credit: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

The light winds mean it will be tactically difficult race over the first days, something already playing out with teams deciding how far south to position themselves compared to making miles to the west.

“It’s a big challenge. We have to manage the wind shadow from the islands, which means we need to get south, but then the doldrums are very big and normally being further west would be safer,” said Sebastien Simon, who is joining GUYOT environnement - Team Europe for this leg.

“It is a big doldrums at the moment. We’re not sure where to cross yet. It will be shifty and interesting for sure.”

For the winner of the opening leg, Team Holcim-PRB, the interest is in seeing the boats and sailors in different conditions from leg one.

“I’m sure we will see different characteristics of the boats and the sailors too,” said skipper Kevin Escoffier. “But the mindset for us is the same — pushing hard, always!”

Leg Two Rankings following the start

1. Team Holcim-PRB
2. 11th Hour Racing Team
3. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe
4. Biotherm
5. Team Malizia

Follow the fleet’s progress with regular updates via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.

After a week of solid trade wind action in Cabo Verde, the forecast for the start of Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 on Wednesday 25 January is much more benign: light northeasterly winds of five to eight knots.

In fact, the weakening trade winds are likely to impact the IMOCA fleet all the way down to the doldrums — the area of notorious light winds and thunder cells around the equator — making for a fascinating, if slow, start to the leg.

“First we’ll have to manage the windshadow from the islands as they are so tall and the wind is light,” said Robert Stanjek, the skipper of GUYOT environnement - Team Europe.

“It looks like we need to get west to be efficient for passing through the doldrums. That’s the conservative option. So that’s the first days.”

From left: Kevin Escoffier (Team Holcim-PRB), Charlie Enright (11th Hour Racing Team), Will Harris (Team Malizia), Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) and Robert Stanjek (GUYOT environnement - Team Europe) at the skippers’ press conference in Cabo Verde on Tuesday 24 January | Credit: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

“With the trade winds sort of breaking down, the doldrums get a bit bigger,” said 11th Hour Racing Team’s Simon Fisher. “It’s three or four days to get down there and the trades should be rebuilding again. Getting out of here and picking up the beginning of the rebuild efficiently is quite important.”

Start time for Leg 2 is 1710 local time (1810 UTC) which is about 90 minutes before sunset, so the crews will be into that first night watch nearly immediately.

But with all of the transitions involved over the first days, there are likely to be many manoeuvres and rest will be hard to find.

“The first part of the race is going to be super tactical and there will be a lot of opportunities so we’ll all need to be very switched on right from the word go,” said Will Harris, who will be skipper on Team Malizai for leg two.

Four of the five teams have made crew substitutions, with Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm the only team planning to start with the same lineup.

“I think it’s important for us to have the same crew because we have so many things to learn,” Meilhat said. “If we change the minimum of settings, in this case that includes the people, it is easier to see the impacts and to learn.”

For Leg 1 winner Kevin Escoffier on Holcim-PRB, it is a matter of continuing to do the things that pushed his team to get the most out of the boat en route to a victory.

“We’ve known for a while that the boat is quite fast, or at least competitive with the other boats,” Escoffier said. “The main thing is that I am really happy with the crew. For us it was the first time we were sailing offshore together. We had a lot of fun on board. It was a very good mood. At the same time we had a good result. But it was the first one. It doesn’t mean anything. There is plenty still to come and we are focussing on the next one.”

Viewers in Ireland can watch the start live on Eurosport beginning at 5.30pm, and live or on demand on the Eurosport Player or discovery+.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres gives his keynote address at The Ocean Race Summit Mindelo on Monday 23 January | Credit: Sailing Energy The Ocean Race

In other news from Cabo Verde, on Monday (23 January) The Ocean Race Summit Mindelo brought together over 300 ocean advocates, including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres; the Prime Minister of Cabo Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva; and Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, among many others — all of them united in their ambition to redouble efforts to protect the ocean.

In his keynote address, Guterres said: “Ending the ocean emergency is a race we must win, and working as one, it is a race we can win.”

Also at the event, Team Malizia’s Boris Herrmann handed Nature’s Baton to Prime Minister Silva who in turn handed it to the UN Secretary-General.

Drawing parallels between the extreme and difficult conditions experienced in the first leg of the race and the fight to protect the ocean, Herrmann said: “It demands everything from us. We have to change our sails and our cause and navigate the winds to accelerate our path.”