The Ocean Race IMOCA Fleet Desperately Seeking Trade Winds for Relief as Return to Doldrums Looms

29th April 2023

Onboard Biotherm on Friday 28 April, Alan Roberts makes a lashing on the outrigger Credit: Anne Beauge/Biotherm/The Ocean Race

The four boats racing north in Leg 4 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 are in a challenging position on Saturday (29 April). The wind is very light and unstable. The result? 24-hour runs of less than 180 nautical miles. That might be a good day on a 35-foot cruising yacht, but it’s not what these IMOCAs were designed to do.

One look at the tracker tells you all you need to know: boat speeds of five to eight knots are the norm today.

The local weather conditions created by the clouds are making for a game of snakes and ladders on the water, with big gains and losses available even when boats are relatively close.

“The deck is dry, but the wind is very shifty,” said Seb Simon on GUYOT environnement - Team Europe who have moved up in the fleet. “This morning we could see Biotherm which was a nice surprise. It will be like this all day [generally light, gusty, clouds]. It’s nice but we’d like a little bit more speed.”

The latest weather analysis has the teams sailing in light trade winds for most of the day, but the windspeed should increase on Sunday (30 April) to more moderate conditions as they close in on the northeast corner of Brazil and pass by Recife. Then, Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 May will see a passage through the doldrums.

Adding to the misery is the temperature. “I feel like I’m under a magnifying glass,” said Charlie Enright from on board a baking hot 11th Hour Racing Team. “It’s warm. Very warm. A two-hour stint in ‘the bubble’ [the plexiglass trimming station] is getting to be too much. The sun takes a toll.”

Enright’s team is still in the lead, but the spread from first to fourth is less then 30 miles. In these unstable conditions, any one of the four teams could emerge from the doldrums with the lead on Tuesday.

Further south, meanwhile, Team Holcim-PRB continues to progress towards Rio, and the boat is expected to arrive on Saturday local time.

Leg Four Rankings at 1600 UTC, 29 April

11th Hour Racing Team, distance to finish, 4,019.4 miles
Team Malizia, distance to lead, 3.8 miles
GUYOT enironnement - Team Europe, distance to lead, 21.9 miles
Biotherm, distance to lead, 29.9 miles
Team Holcim-PRB, racing suspended

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

Published in Ocean Race

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