GUYOT environnement – Team Europe lead 2023 Ocean Race fleet over equator on Leg 2 to Cape Town

“Life, for the moment, is good,” was the message as the IMOCA fleet crossed over the equator into the southern hemisphere on the second leg of the 2023 Ocean Race.

The fleet is travelling south towards Cape Town and has now escaped the calms of the doldrums (the belt near the equator where ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters).

GUYOT environnement – Team Europe was the first to cross the equator just after 2am GMT. Around five-and-a-half hours later, Team Malizia moved into the south, and the five deep IMOCA fleet are now pushing towards the new southeast tradewinds.

“This is always dangerous to write, so I do so with trepidation, but it seems like we are out of the doldrums and back into the trades,” said 11th Hour Racing Team media man Amory Ross.

“I’m writing this under clear skies and 14 knots of wind, 20 knots on the speedo, bow in the sky, reaching at great haste due south. Life, for the moment, is good.”

The timings as the boats crossed the equator were as follows:

• GUYOT environnement – Team Europe – 02:05 GMT
• Biotherm – 02:26 GMT
• Team Holcim – PRB – 03:13 GMT
• 11th Hour Racing Team – 05:12 GMT
• Team Malizia – 07:32 GMT

GUYOT environnement – Team Europe took a gamble on their path to the equator as they opted to sail further east, while traditionally the faster passage through the doldrums has come by going west.

“We were always aiming for as much of a straight line to the south as we could and it seems to have paid off,” said skipper Robert Stanjek on a live call back to race headquarters.

“For sure we had a little bit of luck but that was the call of our navigator (Sebastien Simon) and I’m pretty happy of course that we’ve come out in the lead.”

As the fleet continues south, GUYOT environnement – Team Europe remain to the east while Team Malizia are the most westerly of the five boats.

“We follow the positions of the other boats in the fleet every hour and it’s a big separation between the boats – it’s ocean racing,” added Stanjek.

“We’re not sailing the fastest angle at the moment but we don’t want to give away the height (position to the east) we’ve invested in.”

The leading boat still has around 3,600 nautical miles remaining before getting to Cape Town.

While lift on board at these latitudes can be uncomfortable due to the extreme heat, but there is a benefit to all that sunshine.

“We’re basically running the boat 100 per cent off solar energy,” explained Rosalin Kuiper, who is on board Team Malizia.

“The watermaker, all the instruments can be powered by the sun, so that’s very nice.”

The marathon third leg starts in Cape Town on February 26.