It’s been a record-breaking day in The Ocean Race as the four IMOCAs racing through the south are pressing hard to gain position — and points — at the Leg 3 scoring gate.

Conditions have certainly been favourable for making big mileage: long hours of daylight, a near perfect wind angle and speed (around 25 knots) and relatively flat water compared to normal Roaring 40s conditions.

At the start of this leg, the fully crewed 24-hour distance record for an IMOCA (officially ratified) was 539.71 nautical miles. Earlier this leg, 11th Hour Racing Team raised the stakes with a 544.63 mile day.

But overnight Friday night (10 March) and into Saturday morning (11 March), those marks have been obliterated by the entire fleet. All four boats have posted more than 572 miles in a 24-hour period.

11th Hour Racing Team set an early marker of 582 miles (and climbing), but on Saturday at 1240 UTC Team Holcim-PRB posted what appears to be the new standard at 588.71 nautical miles, although conditions are still favourable and there is a chance this could be pushed higher still.

(NB: All mileage numbers from this edition of The Ocean Race are from Race Control and subject to ratification from the World Speed Sailing Record Council.)

All of this comes as the fleet closes in on the Leg 3 scoring gate at 143 degrees east longitude, where a full complement of scoring points are on offer and leg leader Kevin Escoffier on Team Holcim-PRB is hoping to continue his perfect mark on the points table.

His lead has diminished massively — down from over 600 miles less than a week ago to as little as 130 miles this afternoon, but this number has stabilised over the past 24 hours as the team finds its pace.

“The 0400 UTC position report has just come in… We’ve been kind of short on speed over the last few position reports so we’ve been doing our best to find the next gear and match the other boats,” said Abby Ehler from a loud and fast Holcim-PRB boat early this morning.

“Now we just had a really good report and we’re almost 2-3 knots faster over the last hour so that’s good miles gained there.”

Behind the leaders, Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm crew appear to be significantly less secure in second place than they were on Friday. The chasing trio, which they still lead, have compressed to the point where they are separated by just 15 miles. There won’t be much sleep for those crews between now and the gate as every advantage will need to be pressed to maximise potential points.

Team Malizia has been battling to fix an issue where their J3 sail connects to the foredeck. This is important not just to utilise the sail, but as a load-bearing support for the mast. But judging from their speeds, they are not holding back.

The ETA at the scoring gate is now Sunday evening UTC (12 March).

Leg Three Rankings at 1900 UTC, 11 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 8,123.6 miles
2. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 151.9 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 153.6 miles
4. Biotherm, distance to lead, 155.3 miles

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

There has been more of the same in The Ocean Race on Friday (10 March), but in a good way. All four IMOCA teams are clicking down the miles, racing to the east in fast-reaching conditions.

The wind is up, the water is still (relatively) flat and the miles keep sliding away under the keel.

The fleet continues to compress slightly, closing the race up with the Leg 3 scoring gate fast approaching. The ETA is now Monday morning UTC (13 March).

There should be good, close racing for the next two-and-a-half days in the battle for points at the north/south scoring line running down 143-degrees east longitude.

“We are just at the end of the Indian Ocean, sailing below Cape Leeuwin in a little bit,” said Paul Meilhat on Biotherm, who continues to charge along in second place. “We are reaching just ahead of a front, with Team Malizia and 11th Hour Racing Team just behind us and Holcim-PRB about 100 miles in front of us.

“It depends on our speed, but when we are faster we are more in sunny conditions, and if we are slower we are in the rain and grey. It seems like we have a few days of this.”

Over the past 24 hours, Team Holcim-PRB has seen its lead continue to shrink, dropping another 60 miles or so. But skipper Kevin Escoffier remains just over 100 miles ahead and strongly positioned between the chasing trio, who are racing in a line directly behind and to the west, and the scoring gate straight ahead of him and nearly 1,300 miles to the east.

Further compression is likely. The light winds to the east continue to favour the trailing pack but there is a difference between closing the gap and making a pass, which may prove to be much more difficult.

Charlie Enright and his 11th Hour Racing Team continue to monitor the condition of their replacement rudder. The team released video last night describing the situation as it first developed earlier this week.

Meanwhile, in Cape Town, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe reports that work on their IMOCA hull is proceeding faster than expected.

After opening the hull in the delaminated area no further damage was discovered and repairs at the improvised construction site in Cape Town have progressed so quickly that the yacht is already being prepared for painting. The team is now planning to begin the delivery to Itajaí late next week.

“The repair has progressed really well,” skipper Benjamin Dutreux said. “The team did a very good, fast and strong job. The lamination work was completed this morning. Now a few more bumps will be filled and the laminated area will be in good shape, then the painters can start work.”

Leg Three Rankings at 1700 UTC, 10 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 8,767.2 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 116.4 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 130.7 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 139.3 miles

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

It’s been a fantastic 48 hours on the race track for the trio of IMOCA boats chasing down the current Leg 3 leader in The Ocean Race 2022-23, Team Holcim-PRB.

Since 1500 UTC on Tuesday (7 March), second-placed Biotherm have gained nearly 250 nautical miles. The lead is still significant — at 170 miles — but certainly far less secure than earlier in the week.

The reason the gap is shrinking so significantly and quickly is certainly largely due to the weather patterns in the southern latitudes of the Roaring 40s.

Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB has essentially outrun the favourable weather system it had been enjoying and is now nosing against a ridge of high pressure with much lighter wind conditions.

There is nothing to do, and no other option, but to watch the rest of the fleet — still in stronger conditions — bring the wind forward with them. It should get closer yet as the boats approach the scoring gate, likely on Monday (13 March).

“This light spot has been perfect to check through the boat and sleep well, so it’s not bad,” Escoffier said. “We are used to [the fleet getting closer]. It’s all part of the game. We are used to racing in contact with the other boats from Leg 1 and 2 and we’ve been able to stay in front and I hope we can do the same here.”

On Biotherm, spirits are high as you would imagine. But Paul Meilhat’s team has also been experiencing slightly lighter conditions, while Team Malizia and 11th Hour Racing Team continue to make the best mileage, closing the gap and compressing the fleet with each hourly tracker update. It’s making for good, hard racing.

“Conditions are a bit variable and unpredictable today and just an extra two or three knots of windspeed can make a big difference,” Boris Herrmann told the international media on Thursday (9 March) during a conference call. “Being so close to 11th Hour Racing Team and Biotherm is a huge motivation. We’re trying to sail the boat at its best at all times and taking a lot of pleasure in the close racing.”

The current ETA for the Leg 3 scoring gate — a north/south line along 143-degrees east longitude — is noon UTC on Monday.

“It will be very close with Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team. Of course we would love to get there in second place but it really depends on the wind and weather,” Herrmann said. “But it should be close and very exciting.“”

“Being the trailing boat we have a little more pressure than the boats ahead,” said Simon Fisher from onboard 11th Hour Racing Team. “But basically the next few days is just reaching. The routing will want to take us down to the ice exclusion zone and there will be some wind shifts to manage, but it should be straightforward sailing for the next few days with flat water.”

Leg Three Rankings at 1800 UTC, 9 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 9,211.4 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 164.2 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 188.2 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 193.1 miles

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

With all four teams in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 sailing deep into the Roaring 40s on Wednesday (8 March), the IMOCA fleet is finally in what the sailors would consider to be more typical Southern Ocean conditions, with strong winds from a series of low pressure systems propelling them relentlessly east.

The leader, Team Holcim-PRB, has made a dive to become the boat furthest to the south. This is because the team keeps nosing into lighter conditions ahead, something that has been a concern for skipper Kevin Escoffier for some days now. He has seen Biotherm slice nearly 100 miles off his lead over the past three days, and this is his best defence.

Escoffier and his crew have also struggled to find the right sail set-up for the conditions, with vibrant discussions taking place (in French) about how to proceed.

On Biotherm, the mood is lighter, as Sam Davies updates: “The wind has shifted to the north and we’ve gybed overnight and now we’re running just ahead of a front and the wind is going to build.

“We’ve been checking the boat and doing the little jobs that are impossible to do in stronger winds. We’re making the most of the smooth running conditions, where life on board is much easier to sleep and eat and make sure all the systems are working for the next week, because we’re going to be sending it on port all the way to Tasmania. The mood on board is as good as ever — I’m using my headphones to cancel out the sound of laughter from the cockpit!”

If you want to understand what ‘smooth running conditions’ look like, hop on board ‘Air Malizia’ — a drone video that has great visuals from the ‘champagne conditions’.

In contrast, it’s been a stressful time on 11th Hour Racing Team. After making repairs to two headsails, the team discovered damage to its rudders during a routine inspection.

Amory Ross takes up the story: “Jack [Bouttell] looked at the windward rudder — the one that’s out of the water — and found a crack. It was decent, from front to back, midway down on the outboard side. Then another nearer the top, much smaller, but also closer to the ‘root’, where the rudder meets the boat; a point of importance because losing the tip of a rudder is one thing but the whole rudder is another.

“Juju [Justine Mettraux] was quick to suggest checking the port rudder so down went the starboard rudder and up came the port. No long crack midway down, but a bigger one at the top in the same place as the starboard rudder.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since then, but here’s the summary. After taking our own onboard observations and conferring with our shore team plus the rudders’ designers in France, it was determined that the starboard rudder was the worse off of the two because of its second, longer crack. We chose to put our spare rudder in its place. So the starboard rudder came out, and the spare went in, all quite seamlessly…”

11th Hour Racing Team’s crew watch as the outer layers of carbon are ground away, displaying the true extent of the cracks in their rudders | Credit: Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing/The Ocean Race

The team has been powering along at pace all day Wednesday, a good sign that things on board are back to normal.

Look for the miles to melt away over the coming days, as the breeze comes on and the fleet charges east.

Leg Three Rankings at 1700 UTC, 8 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 9,489.3 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 371.1 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 409.7.3 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 439 miles

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

It’s been an interesting day in The Ocean Race on Tuesday 7 March, with quick-moving weather making for a day of transitions in the southern latitudes.

The big winner over the past 24 hours is second-placed Biotherm, with the team gaining over 30 miles on Team Holcim-PRB.

At the other end of the spectrum, 11th Hour Racing Team appear to be in danger of dropping off the back of a weather system and are making a noticeable dive to the south, toward the southern edge of the race course defined by the ice exclusion zone.

A reduced sail wardrobe due to ongoing repairs has meant the team has struggled to hold on to the chasing IMOCA pack and stay in the same weather system.

According to the latest weather routing, the ETA at the first scoring gate is nearly a week away on 13 March. Incredibly, the routing shows compression in the fleet, with the teams arriving much closer together than they are today.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Dutreux’s GUYOT environnement - Team Europe have confirmed they will pull out of Leg 3 and focus on making repairs to their boat to be ready to rejoin the race in Itajaí, Brazil.

“The decision has been made. We had no choice,” skipper Dutreux said. “If we had resumed the third leg and sailed around the Southern Ocean to Itajaí, we would not have had time to prepare for the next leg. We would then have always been late on the other legs as well. In Itajaí, we still have 60 per cent of the race to go. We lose 20 per cent now, but then we will be ready for the remaining 60 per cent.”

After the non-destructive testing (NDT) of the yacht, no further damage was found apart from the delaminated area on the port side of the hull in the cabin area, but the repair will still take some time.

The current weather in Cape Town with wind and rain is not playing into the team’s cards. In order to be able to carry out the work, the yacht was placed on the cradles between the two team containers. Sheets were used to create a working area that was as protected from the rain as possible.

Before the delaminated area can be opened from the outside, the tech team around Thomas Cardrin reinforced the inner area with carbon laminate. On Wednesday (8 March), the outer carbon layer of the hull will be cut open and the Nomex core removed. The inner carbon layer will remain. The honeycomb structure will be replaced by a foam sandwich core, which will be glued in place on Thursday (9 March).

GUYOT environnement - Team Europe received great help from Team Holcim-PRB in procuring the foam board and carbon fibres, as the special materials required were not readily available in South Africa.

After gluing in the sandwich foam, the open area will be laminated again with carbon fibres on Friday morning (10 March). Filling, sanding and lacquering work should complete the process by Sunday (12 March) before the yacht is likely to be back in the water on Tuesday (14 March) next week.

“Meanwhile, the sailing team is preparing for the transfer and the next stages. We can’t intervene with the repairs, we have four experienced boat builders for that,” Dutreux says. In addition, a specialist from Holcim is assisting with the work.

“We are now planning the delivery and the next legs. The transfer to Itajaí will be made by part of the sailing crew and the technical team,” he adds.

Thomas Cardrin, head of the tech team at GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, said he expects the yacht to be back to 100 per cent load after the repairs.

Leg Three Rankings at 1900 UTC, 7 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 9,776.9 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 404.9 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 506.3 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 578.8 miles

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

Waking up Monday (6 March) with a 470-plus nautical mile lead, one week into Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23, would appear to be an enviable position for Kevin Escoffier and his Team Holcim-PRB.

But the challenge of a big lead is in how best to cover your opposition, who are sailing in an entirely different weather system and have the benefit of seeing where you are.

Looking at the forecast, there is reason for optimism for the chasing trio of Biotherm, 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malizia. And Escoffier, for one, isn’t too happy about it.

“If we don’t manage to catch the system ahead we’ll have to wait for the next one, which they will be coming with and we’ll have a restart,” he said in an interview in French. “In what other sport can you get such a big lead and lose everything in a few days and have to start all over again?”

Biotherm has gained around 50 miles in the last 24 hours, which feels impressive. Still, Paul Meilhat and his team would need to do that for nine more days just to draw level, so perhaps the situation isn’t as bad as Escoffier makes out.

A ridge is following the IMOCA fleet. If the chasing pack manage to stay in front of it, then they can likely close the gap considerably with Holcim-PRB. But should they fall off the back, and into the light airs, the lead will open up again.

11th Hour Racing Team’s Amory Ross writes about the conditions ahead: “…this low that’s just passed over us will eventually slide underneath another a big high in our path, and we’ll meet that high head on. It should bring another fleet compression…”

The American team is treading a careful path, exercising patience, with two headsails under repair and unavailable in the short term. And as the teams skirt the ice exclusion zone, the weather of the southern latitudes is starting to bite.

“It’s really cold,” said Biotherm’s Paul Meilhat. “When you go outside to adjust lines, the water is now very cold. It’s quite windy and the sea state is big.”

“It’s uncomfortable, not very easy to sleep,” said Will Harris on Team Malizia. “The wind goes from 15 to 25 in a few seconds so you have to be right there, ready to adjust sheets… We’re trying not to break the boat. I thought it would be more stable down here, but this is probably what I should have expected — it’s hard!”

Leg Three Rankings at 1800 UTC, 6 March

• 1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 10,202.3 miles
• 2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 460.3 miles
• 3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 517.2 miles
• 4. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 539.7 miles
• X. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, race suspended

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

Team Holcim-PRB continues to hold a 500-plus mile lead on Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23, but the pursuing pack of three is making small gains by pushing forward at record-breaking pace.

11th Hour Racing Team posted a 544.63 nautical mile run over the 24 hours ending in a period ending just after midnight early on Sunday (5 March). Should that figure be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC) it would be a new certified record for the IMOCA class.

“It seems the final tally from midnight to midnight UTC, right up to the point we gybed, was 544 nautical miles and an average boatspeed of 22.7 knots, which — unofficially — would be good enough to beat the current standing 60-and-under monohull record for distance sailed in 24 hours, held by Alex Thompson on his IMOCA Hugo Boss,” writes Amory Ross from 11th Hour Racing Team.

“Typically, these records are set in the south Atlantic and the North Atlantic, but we’re excited to have been able to take advantage of a little fine fortune and mother natures’ red carpet, an a glorious day of sunny, fast sailing!”

With the potential record-breaking run, Charlie Enright’s team has pulled into a near dead heat with Biotherm for second place, with Team Malizia just 50 miles further back.

At the head of the fleet, on board Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB team, the crew has been working to fix a tear in their J2 headsail, applying a patch over the damaged material.

GUYOT environnement - Team Europe’s arrives in Cape Town for repair on in the early hours of Sunday 5 March | Credit: Felix Diemer/GUYOT environnement - Team Europe

“This morning we also noticed some damage to the leech line on the mainsail so we dropped the sail to fix that and now we are going to take advantage of the relatively flat sea state to work on the J2,” said Abby Ehler.

“It’s a really hard fix to do — Sam is trying to hold on, but it’s not ideal. Hopefully we get something on there that will at least stop the tear from getting bigger and then we’ll be back on our way.”

Also getting stuck in to the job list is the GUYOT envrionnement - Team Europe technical team, after their boat arrived in Cape Town overnight.

The boat will be hauled ashore and the damaged area will be examined and the rest of the hull will be subjected to non-destructive testing (NDT). After that, the repair plan can be designed.

“We want to join the fleet in Itajaí as soon as possible,” skipper Benjamin Dutreux said. “We are happy that the team was expecting us here. Everyone wants the boat back in the water as soon as possible. We now have to wait for the investigations and see how long the repairs will take.”

Leg Three Rankings at 1800 UTC, 5 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 10,630.5 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 513.2 miles
3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 519.4 miles
4. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 571.2 miles
5. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, race suspended

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

As Team Holcim-PRB continues to set the standard in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23, racing at speed towards the first scoring gate at 143 degrees east longitude, three other IMOCA boats are — finally — in fast pursuit as of Saturday 4 March.

Biotherm, 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malizia needed to dive as far south as the edge of the ice exclusion zone to find the wind, but now they’re in it and making miles to the east.

“We have good conditions, flat sea state,“” said Nico Lunven from on board Team Malizia. “It’s very nice sailing. We have 22-24 knots of wind from the northwest, nice and fast sailing conditions.

“The goal is to move as fast as we can to the east. Tomorrow morning [Sunday 5 March] we will be caught by a cold front, coming from behind, so we’ll have a transition [and the wind will shift south] for a few days.”

Writing from 11th Hour Racing Team’s IMOCA Malama, OBR Amory Ross said: “The bow is finally pointed east and boat speeds are finally in excess of 20. Our five minute average is… double checking… 26 knots, and I might say a very pleasant 26.

“The sea is relatively flat for the Southern Ocean and the temps are relatively warm for the Southern Ocean, but I say this knowing our date with the corner of the ice exclusion zone, about 10 miles to our south and 440 miles east of here will bring a right hand turn and a dive into the extremes we know are not always so comfortable.”

The three chasing IMOCAs are much further south than the leader, and skirting the ice exclusion zone near 45 degrees south latitude, while Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB team are over 400 miles north, still holding on to that original weather system that’s allowed them to escape to a near 550-mile lead.

But at some point, they too will have to come south and that could present an opportunity for the chasing pack, as it will be Escoffier’s turn to bump up against an area of lighter winds.

Over the course of the next week, the fleet is forecast to compress much more tightly again. Until then, it will be fast sailing along the southern boundary of the race course.

Meanwhile, away to the north, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe is closing in on Cape Town, with an ETA of Saturday night. The mast and boat will be hauled out on Sunday, weather permitting, and work to repair the damaged structure will begin immediately.

Leg Three Rankings at 1900 UTC, 4 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 11,056.8 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 531.4 miles
3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 545.5 miles
4. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 582.1 miles
5. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, race suspended

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

It is still a far cry from traditional Roaring 40s weather for the four IMOCAs still competing in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23, but at least one critical element has returned: the wind.

Biotherm, 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malizia are all finally on the move after a frustrating period of unusually light, warm, and calm conditions.

While the unusual weather suited Team Malizia as they worked through the day and into the night on Wednesday (1 March) to repair their damaged mast, it was received far less well by the sailors on Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team who could only watch as Leg leading Team Holcim-PRB raced away from them, one full weather system ahead.

“We are moving again, after 24 hours in the high pressure system,” said Biotherm skipper Paul Meilhat. “Now, it’s ‘let’s go’. It’s still not very windy, but much better than before. We are happy to be going faster with the boat and not listening to the flapping of the sails. It’s good!”

It has turned out relatively well for Biotherm, who have converted a trailing position to the south into a second place on the leaderboard, by virtue of getting into the new wind ahead of 11th Hour Racing Team.

In fact, the American team has found misfortune over the past couple of days. Ensnared in a high-pressure bubble of near-calm winds, Charlie Enright’s team has even made miles to the west — away from finish — in an effort to get into the new breeze.

As of Friday afternoon UTC (3 March) they are back, moving at 20 knots through the water, but still struggling to turn in a more favourable direction as the calms remain in their path.

But media crewman Amory Ross writes the team is just happy to be moving again: “With one final gybe to the south this morning it feels like we’ve finally escaped the clutches of the high. We have 10 knots on the water and 15 knots at the top of the rig and while we may be heading southwest, at least we’re making progress towards the new wind.

“In the end the high did roll us and we did drift around for the better part of 12 hours; all somewhat foreseeable after we fell off the back of the low. What’s also foreseeable, and you can already see happening, is the new wind filling from the west will first aid Biotherm and then Malizia before it finally reaches us. C’est la vie…”

All in all a tough opening week for the American team, but with 30-plus days of racing remaining, plenty of time to turn things around.

For Team Malizia, the news is positive. Repairs appear to have gone as well as they could have hoped and the team is moving at speed again, if still a little bit cautiously as they allow as much time as possible for the resins to ‘cook’‘ or cure in the repair at the top of the mast. But the prognosis is positive.

“I am so happy, we are back sailing, the workshop is cleaned away and most things are fixed on board,” was the message from skipper Boris Herrmann on Friday afternoon. “I feel so ready for the next part of this race, it fills me with energy to think about what we have just achieved across the whole team and I am ready to go for the rest of this leg! The race is still on, we aren’t far from 11th Hour and Biotherm and the race is still long!”

At the head of the fleet, it’s also all positive for Team Holcim-PRB. The opening five days could hardly have gone better, as skipper Kevin Escoffier sits nearly 600 miles ahead of his closest competitor.

“We will stay in this low-pressure system — like four or five days — and afterwards it will be different and we will have some gybes to do and not a straight line, like today,” Tom Laperche said from on board the leader.

“And yes, behind us they have fallen into the high pressure and they have a lot of light wind over the next two days, but our routing is not very clear for the next week, so I don’t know if they can come back or not.”

That is the flip side of such a commanding lead; it can be difficult to cover your opponents from 600 miles away. But this is a good problem to have.

Racing back to Cape Town, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe is about 250 miles from a weekend arrival at the V&A Waterfront, where everything is prepared and ready for a significant repair operation.

Thomas Cardrin is the head of the Tech Team of GUYOT environnement - Team Europe. “Workshop and storage containers were brought back and the work area prepared,” he says. “The cradles are back, the RIB has to be back in the water, the big fenders are ready. We have made a lot of phone calls to order all the equipment we need to repair the damaged area: carbon fibre, resins, etc. To do this, we need to check how to reinforce the starboard side, which has not been affected so far, for the next legs. We need to prevent the damage from occurring on the other side as well.

“The expected arrival of the yacht is on Saturday afternoon, maybe in the evening. We will prep the mast for Sunday. Sunday midday we should be able to take off the mast, put the boat on the cradle out of the water, wash it and inspect it. By Monday morning the plan for the repairs will be in place and we will start working.”

Looking at the continuation of the race, Cardrin sees a range of possibilities: “The best option is that we repair very quickly and the yacht can start again, so that it goes to Itajaí on the normal track, finishes the leg around Cape Horn. The other option is to go directly to Itajaí to be there in time to get everything ready for the start of the fourth leg.”

Leg Three Rankings at 1900 UTC, 3 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 11,493.9 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 600.9 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 633.6 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 634 miles
5. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, race suspended

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

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.

After winning Legs 1 and 2 of The Ocean Race, the Holcim-PRB crew have now built a solid lead just four days into the third leg, escaping with a low-pressure, high-wind system that has left the rest of the IMOCA fleet behind.

As of 1800 UTC on Thursday (2 March), Team Holcim-PRB has a 300+ nautical mile lead over 11th Hour Racing Team, and it is growing hour by hour with Escoffier and his crew sailing more to 10 knots more quickly than the pursuing boats. But it hasn’t been easy.

“The sea state has been horrible. It is not easy to find the right balance between speed and not breaking the boat,” Escoffier said. “Now we still have to deal with this huge low-pressure system in front of us. So far we have been pretty good, first at the start, and with our position after and we have been able to gain and gain a bit more.”

11th Hour Racing Team has moved into second place, but hasn’t managed to hold on to the same weather system and are mired in lighter winds. But nevertheless, a second-place position on the leaderboard after suspending racing for two hours following the start is a good position to be in and onboard media man Amory Ross says the mood on the boat is good.

It’s a similar story for Biotherm, more than 200 miles further back, but also experiencing unusually light conditions for a boat that has dipped its bow into the ‘Roaring 40s’. For these teams, the roar of the south is yet to come. “Unusual” was the way Sam Davies described it.

However, two other teams will be much happier in the lighter conditions: GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, now en route to Cape Town to make structural repairs to its boat; and Team Malizia, who have had sailors up the mast today working on reinforcing the mast which suffered damage when a headsail came off the lock, allowing the halyard to tear a fissure through the carbon fibre.

“We have tried to repair the floor a little bit — to glue some battens to strengthen the area — so we can push harder to come back to Cape Town more quickly and fix the boat properly and rejoin the fleet in Itajai,” said GUYOT environnement - Team Europe skipper Ben Dutreux.

“I don’t know yet whether that will be via the Southern Ocean or direct across the Atlantic. We will see after we get to Cape Town.”

The Team Malizia crew has had a gruelling Thursday, taking turns up the mast with reinforcing sheets of carbon fibre that need to be glued and cured to make the repair. While the lighter winds and warmer temperatures provided welcome conditions for the repair, a mixed sea state meant the spar was swinging like a pendulum in the air, making for treacherous work.

As of 1500 UTC today, the team was still putting the work in up the rig, but skipper Boris Herrmann says the plan is to push forward as soon as possible.

“I feel a bit shattered emotionally. Disappointed,” he wrote in a message earlier today. “But the great people around me show me the right attitude. Keep face and remain strong to achieve the dream of this round the world race. We thought about going back to Cape Town. This would be an easy reaction. The race could be continued from Itajaí.

“But we now all agree to try and continue. It takes of course even more mental strength than such an endeavour takes anyhow. The day we stand on the dock in Itajaí I will be super proud. These long races are incredibly challenging.“”

All five teams are facing their own challenges in the early days of this mammoth Leg 3. Each is proving unstoppable.

Leg Three Rankings at 1800 UTC, 2 March

1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 11,894.9 miles
2. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 338 miles
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 459.4 miles
4. Biotherm, distance to lead, 521.3 miles
5. GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, race suspended

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