The Ocean Race Atlantic: Day Six Report
After losing the lead to DMG Mori Global One yesterday, both 11th Hour Racing and United by the Ocean have made big gains again as Day 6 has progressed, with the two chasing boats still right next to each other, but only a couple of miles behind.
On the tracker Francesca’s crew is still in third place, three nautical miles [3.45 miles | 5 kilometers] behind Paul Meilhat and his team on United by the Ocean. But this is anyone’s race as the leading crews sail the borderline between the weather front behind them, associated with the depression, and a light airs ridge ahead of them.
The skipper of 11th Hour Racing is clearly relishing this fascinating battle, with less than 1,000 nautical miles [1,150 miles | 1,852 kilometers] to go to the finish and a tricky weather picture ahead for the final stages into Lorient.
We put it to her that The Ocean Race Atlantic is proving that you don’t need a huge fleet to generate a really good contest in the IMOCA Class. “Of course,” she said in her latest voice note during the night watch, “we don’t need tons of boats on the racecourse to make it exciting. Six boats, especially with the tight fight at the front with the four boats, is getting cool to watch and, to be honest, it’s getting pretty cool to race out here!”
© Julien Champolion | polaRYSE | 11th Hour Racing | The Ocean Race
The key now is all about speed and the 11th Hour Racing crew are constantly adjusting trim and every element of their set-up to maximize their speed against both DMG MORI and United by the Ocean.
“We are definitely focusing on speed,” added Francesca. “We are trying to manage the crossing of this ridge and crossing the high pressure. Of course, it is moving away from us and we are just trying to find a little gate to get through it. We are still quite headed compared to the forecast, so the speeds are not incredible, but finally we are at least getting a little bit faster.”
Francesca and the crew have been in an arm wrestle with Paul Meilhat’s team for a couple of days and they know what they are up against. “Paul has a great team, a great boat, and I remember them last year in The Ocean Race Europe. They were quite impressive in the medium-to-light range, so of course the boat has a lot of potential and all the people who are sailing it are putting up a really good fight,” said Francesca.
She has been impressed by the turn of speed from DMG MORI too, the brand new Guillaume Verdier design skippered by Kojiro Shiraishi and with a crew including Sam Davies and Nico Lunven. “They showed some really good strength, especially yesterday putting up some pretty high averages. Finally they have slowed down a little bit but their positioning [25 nautical miles to windward of 11th Hour Racing] is quite scary. They are definitely on the inside and positioned quite well, especially for the end of the race,” said Francesca.
Co-skipper Alberto Bona © Julien Champolion | polaRYSE | 11th Hour Racing | The Ocean Race
The last part of this sprint across the Atlantic from New York will see the boats tackling light airs approaching Ushant and the final miles to Lorient. Francesca reckons it will be there where this race is won and lost. “That will be pretty much the key,” she explained, “how to manage the end - the angles to approach the finish and making sure we keep a really fast angle and the positioning.
“It’s going to be a lot about positioning with the rest of the fleet, probably keeping a good inside line and keeping the boat going all the time, making sure we have the right sails and the right angle and pushing all the way,” she added.
It’s all to play for, with the leaders now 700 nautical miles [805 miles | 1,296 kilometers]due west of the southwest tip of Ireland …
The leaders are currently expected into Lorient overnight Thursday, September 10 to the morning of Friday, September 11.
Ed Gorman