The Ocean Race 2022-23: Paul Meilhat delighted to add Sam Davies to Biotherm ranks for epic Leg 3

Biotherm skipper Paul Meilhat says he is ready to embrace the long and arduous challenge of a historic Leg 3 of The Ocean Race, revealing his delight at having Sam Davies join the crew.

Eurosport expert Davies will join the French-flagged team for an epic third leg which will be the longest in the race’s history.

The fleet will travel 12,750 nautical miles from Cape Town to Itajai, Brazil, setting off on Sunday.

“We are really happy to have Sam Davies on the boat, joining in Cape Town,” said Meilhat.

“She has a lot of experience, she has crossed Cape Horn many times. Biotherm is a new boat, so it’s going to bring some confidence.

“I think it’s good because you can have issues, you need to be really precise about the strategy and the meteorology.

“I’m really happy to have a crew, like Damien [Seguin], who has also crossed the Cape Horn, that’s perfect.

“This race will be hard because it’s quite long and you have many parts. You have Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and after Cape Horn it’s not finished because it’s quite tricky with the forecast.

“If it’s like Leg 2, the leader can be 500 miles in front of the others and two days later, all the boats are in the same line.

“So it’s quite hard and it’s going to be long, more than one month, so you have to be focused, keep your energy, don’t break your boat, a lot of things.”

Double points are up for grabs on the testing leg, with points split between the finishing positions and the order at which the teams pass the longitude of 143 degrees east.