“Around the outside” is a trope that gets pulled out at one point or another on every edition of The Ocean Race. It refers to a tactical option on the race course where a boat, or boats, sail a longer route in more favourable conditions to make a pass on the leaderboard.
Today (Saturday 4 February) it’s appropriate as Team Holcim-PRB, 11th Hour Racing Team, Biotherm and even Team Malizia have used the longer, westerly option to slide south of GUYOT environnement - Team Europe who has been leading for much of Leg 2.
Up until now, what would traditionally be considered a risky easterly option had paid off for Robert Stanjek and his team on GUYOT environnement.
But between 2100 UTC last night and 0900 UTC this morning, their luck appears to have run out and the tactical scenario has turned on its head.
While all boats in the IMOCA fleet slowed and suffered some tricky shifts to navigate, it was much worse for the European-flagged team, who are no longer the most southerly boat and look to be in a very vulnerable position.
The tracker still shows GUYOT environnement - Team Europe with a nominal lead, but this is based solely on the maths of being to the east and therefore the closest boat to Cape Town. The tactical reality is very different.
The tracker also shows compression in the entire fleet with Team Malizia making strong gains behind Holcim-PRB and 11th Hour Racing Team, all three of which have gybed southwest. Earlier they were within sight of Biotherm — who are maintaining their southeasterly source for now — with only a 10-mile spread between them.
“The wind is a bit shifty with some squalls to play with. Lots of wind variations so we need to change sails, adjust trimming, gybe, etc,” was the report on Saturday morning from Nico Lunven on Team Malizia.
11th Hour Racing Team’s Malama sailing downwind at sunset in the South Atlantic on Thursday 2 February | Credit: Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing/The Ocean Race
“We are quite happy as we have been able to catch up a bit our competitors. Now we are only 30-40 nautical miles behind Holcim, Biotherm and 11th Hour. And GUYOT is in a different option, much closer to the rhumb line [direct route to Cape Town] but in light wind for now.
“Ahead of us, there is still a lot to play for. The next goal is to catch some strong NW wind in order to be able to gain to the East, towards Cape Town.
“Life is good on board. We had some showers under the rain squalls yesterday. We will need to monitor our remaining food as the leg is longer than expected…”
The ETA for Cape Town is now Saturday 11 to Sunday 12 February.
Leg Two Rankings at 1500 UTC, 4 February
- GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, distance to finish, 2585.7 miles
- Biotherm, distance to lead, 22.8 miles
- 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 54.8 miles
- Team Holcim-PRB, distance to lead, 64.4 miles
- Team Malizia, distance to lead, 66.5 miles
Find the latest fleet positions on the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
