Doldrum dilemma for The Ocean Race

(January 30, 2023; Day 6) – It’s been a difficult 24 hours for The Ocean Race fleet as the five IMOCA teams become fully engulfed in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, better known as the doldrums.

The light, fickle winds, random storm cells and clouds that bring sudden puffs of wind along with rain and thunder and lightning, mean days and nights of uncertainty.

The prize for escape is immense – the promise of steady southeasterly tradewinds south of the equator and acceleration towards the final goal, the finish in Cape Town.

Video watching:
• Holcim – PRB drifting through the doldrums
• GUYOT environnement – Team Europe tackle the doldrums
• Biotherm sail past a waterspout
• 11th Hour Racing Team search for wind
• Team Malizia’s Will Harris explains the doldrums

Historically, the band of light winds that characterize the doldrums is smaller the further west one is. This is known and dictated the strategy of all of the teams as they left Cabo Verde. But with Cape Town to the east, there was debate over how many extra miles to sail away from the finish in order to have a potentially easier passage through the doldrums.

At the extremes, GUYOT envirionnement – Team Europe has been trying to cut the corner in the east, while Team Malizia hit the traditionally safer option nearly 200 miles to the west. In between, from east to west, lie Biotherm, Team Holcim-PRB, and 11th Hour Racing Team.

“We’re at the gateway to the doldrums and we’re still going fast,” said Team Malizia skipper Will Harris yesterday evening. “We’re going twice as fast as the other boats right now and we just need to keep going like this, keep the boat moving. If we get a bit of luck and keep our fingers crossed, maybe we’ll catch up some miles. But let’s see – the doldrums can do anything.”

According to the tracker, ‘anything’ is exactly what is playing out.

Malizia has slowed down, after making good gains and closing to within 90 miles on the leaderboard and about 50 miles on the north-south axis.

Interestingly, GUYOT environnement – Team Europe has so far escaped punishment for its easterly track and at 1300 UTC is ahead of the fleet both on the leaderboard and as the most southerly boat.

“The doldrums is really wide this time,” said Sebastien Simon on GUYOT. “It won’t be finished until at least the equator.”

“No clouds but no wind,” said a subdued Paul Meilhat on Biotherm. “We maybe did only 7 or 8 miles all night. Not a lot. There is also a little bit of current in front, so when there is no wind sometimes we are probably going backwards. But this morning is better.”

The equator and the crossing into the Southern hemisphere is still about 100 miles away and depending on your luck, anywhere between 12 and 24 hours in the future.

Leg Two Rankings at 1300 UTC
1. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe, distance to finish, 3909.4 miles
2. Biotherm, distance to leader, 21.3 miles
3. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to leader, 33.3 miles
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to leader, 44.9 miles
5. Team Malizia, distance to leader, 87.7 miles

With race management predicting a 14-15-day passage time for Leg 2, the leading boats are expected to arrive in Cape Town on or around February 8 or 9.

Race details – Route – Tracker – Teams – Content from the boats – YouTube

IMOCA LEG 2 CREW LIST

11TH HOUR RACING TEAM (USA)
Charlie ENRIGHT (USA) Skipper
Simon FISHER (GBR)
Jack BOUTTELL (AUS/ GBR)
Justine METTRAUX (SUI)
Amory ROSS (USA) – OBR

BIOTHERM (FRA)
Paul MEILHAT (FRA) – Skipper
Anthony MARCHAND (FRA)
Amélie GRASSI (FRA)
Damien SEGUIN (FRA)
Annne BEUGÉ (FRA)

TEAM HOLCIM-PRB (SUI)
Kevin ESCOFFIER (FRA) – Skipper
Sam GOODCHILD (GBR)
Tom LAPERCHE (FRA)
Susann BEUCKE (GER)
Georgia SCHOFIELD (NZL) – OBR

GUYOT ENVIRONNEMENT-TEAM EUROPE (FRA/ GER)
Robert STANJEK (GER) – skipper
Sébastien SIMON (FRA)
Anne-Claire LE BERRE (FRA)
Phillip KASÜSKE (GER)
Charles DRAPEAU (FRA) – OBR

TEAM MALIZIA (GER)
Will HARRIS (GBR) – skipper
Yann ELIES (FRA)
Rosalin KUIPER (NED)
Nicolas LUNVEN (FRA)
Antoine AURIOL (FRA) – OBR

Leg One Results

IMOCA
1. Team Holcim-PRB, winner leg one, finished – 5d 11h 01m 59s
2. 11th Hour Racing Team, finished – 5d 13h 50m 45s
3. Team Malizia, finished – 5d 16h 35m 21s
4. Biotherm, finished – 6d 8h 47m
5. GUYOT environnement-Team Europe, finished – 6d 12h 20m 37s

VO65
1. WindWhisper Racing, finished – 5d 16h 35m 21s
2. Team JAJO, finished – 6d 4h 52m 52s
3. Austrian Ocean Racing-Team Genova, finished – 6d 19h 13m 54s
4. Ambersail 2, finished – 6d 21h 49m 04s
5. Viva Mexico, finished – 8d 13h 50m 25s
6. Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team – Retired from leg

IMOCA: Boat, Design, Skipper, Launch date
• Guyot Environnement – Team Europe (VPLP Verdier); Benjamin Dutreux (FRA)/Robert Stanjek (GER); September 1, 2015
• 11th Hour Racing Team (Guillaume Verdier); Charlie Enright (USA); August 24, 2021
• Holcim-PRB (Guillaume Verdier); Kevin Escoffier (FRA); May 8, 2022
• Team Malizia (VPLP); Boris Herrmann (GER); July 19, 2022
• Biotherm (Guillaume Verdier); Paul Meilhat (FRA); August 31 2022

The Ocean Race 2022-23 Race Schedule:
Alicante, Spain – Leg 1 start: January 15, 2023
Cabo Verde – ETA: January 22; Leg 2 start: January 25
Cape Town, South Africa – ETA: February 9; Leg 3 start: February 26 or 27 (TBC)
Itajaí, Brazil – ETA: April 1; Leg 4 start: April 23
Newport, RI, USA – ETA: May 10; Leg 5 start: May 21
Aarhus, Denmark – ETA: May 30; Leg 6 start: June 8
Kiel, Germany (Fly-By) – June 9
The Hague, The Netherlands – ETA: June 11; Leg 7 start: June 15
Genova, Italy – The Grand Finale – ETA: June 25, 2023; Final In-Port Race: July 1, 2023

The Ocean Race (formerly Volvo Ocean Race and Whitbread Round the World Race) was initially to be raced in two classes of boats: the high-performance, foiling, IMOCA 60 class and the one-design VO65 class which has been used for the last two editions of the race.

However, only the IMOCAs will be racing round the world while the VO65s will race in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint which competes in Legs 1, 6, and 7 of The Ocean Race course.

Additionally, The Ocean Race also features the In-Port Series with races at seven of the course’s stopover cities around the world which allow local fans to get up close and personal to the teams as they battle it out around a short inshore course.

Although in-port races do not count towards a team’s overall points score, they do play an important part in the overall rankings as the In-Port Race Series standings are used to break any points ties that occur during the race around the world.

The 14th edition of The Ocean Race was originally planned for 2021-22 but was postponed one year due to the pandemic, with the first leg starting on January 15, 2023.

Source: The Ocean Race