Day 5 - Daily Download, and the team creep into first place!
Day 5 - October 30, 2025
© Francesca Clapcich | 11th Hour Racing
It’s been a superb 24 hours for Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris on 11th Hour Racing who have taken the lead in the Transat Café L’OR for the first time, as the IMOCA fleet tackles a large area of light winds straddling the Canary Islands.
Having been well-established in third position behind leaders Charal and MACIF Santé Prévoyance, Will and Francesca entered the light patch further west than their two nearest rivals and then stayed west, with the lateral gap ranging from 10 nautical miles to nearly 30.
This decision – to go their own way – has paid off handsomely as 11th Hour Racing first drew level with Charal and MACIF and then eased ahead. This morning, at sunrise, Will and Francesca have a lead of just over three miles on Charal and five miles over MACIF, with those two boats close to each other but 23 miles away on a north-northeast heading.
Behind the leading trio – positioned about 100 miles north-northwest of Lanzarote – the fleet has compressed, with nine boats now within 35 miles of each other and with boatspeeds down to around six or seven knots, it’s a dramatic contrast to the heavy weather sailing seen in the early stages of this race.
Once more, approaching the end of the fifth day at sea on the racetrack from Le Havre to Martinique, we can report that all is well on board 11th Hour Racing. There are no significant technical issues and the crew is totally focused on maintaining fleet position on a boat that is regarded as not the fastest in light winds.
Francesca was on-watch as the sun came up on a beautiful flat sea and as the boat continued on its southerly heading. During the morning “vacation” [phone interview] with race headquarters, she paid tribute to Will’s work on strategy and his preparation for this race: “I need to give so much credit to Will because he worked really hard on preparation … and I think we really stuck with our strategy and, you know, it’s paying off.
“Of course, we saw how quickly you can get all the boats back together. We are nine boats in 30 miles and before we had a 100 miles of advantage, so I think it’s just going to be a big re-start at the Canary Islands,” she added.
She spoke about the next steps: “Ahead of us, we have to go through this ridge which is not so easy. And then, after that, it will also not be easy to get into some good Trade Winds, so I think the strategy is really important for the next 48 hours and then we will see.”
And Francesca also spoke about the boat and its performance in varied conditions. “For me,” she said. “The boat is really impressive when it was really windy and the sea state was really bad … and, so far, I am also quite impressed in the light conditions because, on paper, we are not the fastest boat in the fleet, but we’re still able to hold onto the front pack and I’m really happy to see it.”
For the next 24-26 hours Will and Francesca will have to continue – as she put it – “joining the dots” in the lightest of winds towards the Canaries and see if their westerly option pays off. Up ahead it looks like the strongest breeze will be funnelling down the African coast in the narrow corridor off the Canaries, so we can expect the leaders to keep well to the east looking for the acceleration that will take them south to the Trade Winds.
Ed Gorman