On day 20 (Saturday 18 March) of racing in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23, the competition is incredibly close, with four IMOCAs separated by fewer than 17 nautical miles as of 1800 UTC.
The teams still have two weeks of racing to go. But with the positions so close, this weekend is serving as a re-start of sorts.
The lighter conditions which have compressed the fleet together have also given the crews time to complete much needed maintenance and repairs — on boats and people alike.
The wind is forecast to return on Monday and the ETA for Cape Horn is now 26-27 March.
“We have Biotherm just over there and Team Holcim-PRB just down to leeward,” said Will Harris from the sunshine on deck of Team Malizia.
“The wind is coming behind us with these clouds,” he said, pointing behind the boat. “And if you look in front of us there is nice sunny weather, but that’s the high-pressure up ahead with not much wind.
“That’s why we’ve all compressed and the fleet has really shrunk down together. We’re effectively re-starting the race, which is good and bad. We can fight for the lead, but at the same time, we’ve lost our lead over the ones behind.”
Indeed, Malizia enjoyed a few hours at the top of the tracker leaderboard overnight UTC on Friday night before slipping towards the back of the pack on Saturday.
But in reality, all four teams now have the potential to emerge with the advantage by the time the more typical southern latitude conditions return early in the new week.
Leg Three Rankings at 1800 UTC, 18 March
- Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 5,204.4 miles
- Biotherm, distance to lead, 10.3 miles
- Team Malizia, distance to lead, 13.4 miles
- 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 16.2 miles
Find the latest fleet positions on the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
