Fighting for fourth … all the way to the very end
The longest leg of The Ocean Race Europe from Genoa, Italy, to Boka Bay Montenegro is done - 7 days, 10 hours, 26 minutes, and 9 seconds - and we pulled out a good performance. We really wanted to fight for the podium and so finishing third was a good result for us. We are now lying in fifth overall, but just one point behind my fellow Italian, Ambrogio Beccaria on Allagrande Mapei Racing - fourth is within our reach!
© Flore Hartout | Team Malizia
It was a leg of really mixed weather - from huge mistral thunderstorms to stretches of no wind, the zig-zagging Mediterranean threw everything at us.
You may remember that we were going to change the way we approached navigation for this leg and have just one person, out of watch, focused on nav and Will Harris did a pretty awesome job the entire leg, making the right calls at the right time. And we were able to find a better performance out of the boat, a faster and quicker mode of sailing. So all round - a good final leg of the race done and dusted.
We were watching the rankings all the time because we really wanted to see Paprec Arkéa pass Mapei in the last leg which would have put us on equal points, but it’s not over yet! On Saturday we have a final three-house inshore coastal race, which has the same number of points as a full leg - seven up for grabs - it’s a bit of an incredible situation. It’s going to be so important to get all the points we can so the fight for fourth is ON!
© Flore Hartout | Team Malizia
I know that we have the skills and the boat to be able to do it and we are already thinking about how to get the most out of the boat, taking out every extra bit of weight that we don’t need to make sure we are light enough. We can be quick when it is really, really light, even below eight knots of wind, and it looks like here, inside the bay in Montenegro, there isn’t a lot of breeze, so - perhaps we’ll get lucky!
For once, the first few days after a leg arrival look to be quite quiet. I picked up a cough and cold during the leg so I’m going to be resting as much as possible so I’m at full strength for Saturday. I’m also really keen to get a bit of time off and just enjoy the surroundings - it’s like discovering a little piece of paradise.