Team Malizia leads the way heading into the Atlantic as leg 3 continues on route to Itajai – ‘A lot still to play for’

Team Malizia remain top of the leaderboard in leg three of the Ocean Race after becoming the first team to pass Cape Horn.

They were followed by the 11th Hour Racing Team and Biotherm in going around the Horn. With the fleet now split in two, Malizia are aiming to fight off the challenge from Holcim-PRB and 11th Hour Racing Team, but both sides are still a day behind.

“It is nice to still be fighting against Biotherm,” said Justine Mettraux of 11th Hour Racing Team, as she rounded Cape Horn for the first time.

“There are still 2,000 miles nto go after the Cape to Itajai so still a lot to play for. It is nice to have a bit softer winds, despite it meaning the leaders are moving away from us. We are back to full main, big sails, and trying to get the most of the wind we have at the moment, but they are pretty unstable conditions with a lot of clouds.

“It is cold, though! Hard to dry anything but nice, beautiful lights, birds again because we are getting close to shore. We are seeing more Albatrosses and Petrels which is nice.”

“It’s been tough to have 11th Hour Racing pass us, but today is better – we’re going to pass Cape Horn,” Paul Meilhat said. “The boat is not 100% but it’s not bad. We are really proud of the work we have done. One year ago we were putting layers in the boat mould and today we are racing past Cape Horn. Already this is a victory.”

Team Holcim PRB skipper Kevin Escoffer has now rounded the Horn three times and stressed the importance of sticking to a familiar route, whatever the weather conditions.

“The main challenge is still to get to Itajai,” he explained.

“The weather can change rapidly. Rather than looking for weather systems that move very quickly and that can change direction, we’d rather go on the northern route. Always protecting the boat and the crew.”

Meanwhile, Will Harris of Team Malizia highlighted the importance of biding their time to hold off the challenge from Holcim-PRB.

“We’ve been sailing our own strategy,” he said. “We’re not at the point where we would match race them. There’s still five or six days left in this leg – there’s a lot that can happen so we have to sail our own race. The easiest way to finish ahead of them is to give ourselves an opportunity jump ahead by a few miles. We have to do what we think is right and play our own game.”

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