The Ocean Race Europe fleet charged into Matosinhos this morning after two-and-a-half relentless days of racing. It was Biotherm once again at the front, Paul Meilhat’s team extending their perfect record by taking the maximum seven points on offer at the midway scoring gate.
This was no easy cruise. The Bay of Biscay may have delivered smooth conditions, but that only tightened the pack. For much of the leg the entire fleet has been compressed within a handful of miles, every gybe and sail change magnified. It was a night of gains and losses measured in metres, the kind of racing where you dare not look away from the sails.
Meilhat and his crew took the decisive move at Cape Finisterre, rotating into the new breeze first on the western side of the fleet. From there they pushed hard and never let go. “In the Bay of Biscay we were reaching in light, so that was good for us and we took the advantage just before Finisterre,” said Meilhat on the dock. “We kept to the west of the fleet and it was the perfect strategy.”
For all the celebrations, the French skipper was clear this was not a dominant procession like the leg into Portsmouth.
“It’s true that it was different from the first leg. Here it was hard to the end. Even tonight, the wind wasn’t as expected, so we did some gybes and the wind was really shifty. But we found the solution to go really fast and we’ve been really happy with the boat.”
Behind them, Paprec Arkéa pulled off the comeback of the leg. Yoann Richomme’s team had dropped to the back after losing ground at the tidal gate off Brittany, but fought their way through the pack to take second, 42 minutes behind Biotherm.
“We lost a lot of miles at the tip of Brittany, which hurt us quite a bit because we were in the lead,” Richomme explained. “We’ve been fighting ever since to come back. And we had a wonderful night catching up to Malizia and then the whole team, and pulling away some miles. So overall it’s great news for us.”
The final push came in the last 12 hours. “We were neck and neck with Malizia for a while last night. Then there was a really big speed run all the way to the waypoint to the west. We were really fast in those conditions and had a nice manoeuvre, a gybe set around the mark. I think we selected the right sail as well and maybe they had a smaller sail. We reacted a lot faster and gybed south. Everything went right for us and we got the right angle coming into Porto.”
After making the boldest gains of the fleet, six points in Matosinhos keep Paprec Arkéa firmly in the hunt. For Richomme, his hopes of winning The Ocean Race Europe for a second time are still alive.
“Now I think the wind’s dying a bit on the north of the course. It’s going to be hard for the others to get in, so it’s a good result for us.”
Third place went to Holcim-PRB, 32 minutes behind Paprec. For skipper Rosalin Kuiper, it marked the team’s first points of the event after the heartbreak of leg one.
“We’re very happy to be back in the race and especially after what happened in the first leg. We actually finished, and we finished third. Of course there’s room for improvement, but we’re happy so far,” she said.
The night had been punishing. “It was a big challenge after the turning mark. We carried a lot of sails, we did a lot of peels back and forth, and we lost a bit on Paprec Arkéa’s track. They were super fast and super low. But we learned a lot.”
Her crew echoed the sentiment. “It was an intense leg. Especially last night it was hard downwind, driving and changing sails,” said Franck Cammas. “We are happy with where we are, it’s not so bad to be third, and we’ve still got a long way to Cartagena.”
The Matosinhos fly-by gave teams three hours to reset before restarting towards Cartagena. Crews docked in to cheers, but the focus remained firmly on the racing ahead. “It’s very different because normally when we dock in we’re finished and we can really relax,” Kuiper said. “Now the clock is ticking and we know within an hour we will go on board the boat again. That’s way different than we’re used to, but it’s very cool and challenging as well.”
With 18 points now collected from every scoring opportunity, Biotherm are edging out of reach. As Team Malizia crossed the line in fourth, the French boat was already setting off. “To Gibraltar it will probably be really fast downwind, so it’s really good to have an advantage right now, as it’s probably not the fastest angle for Biotherm,” said Meilhat. “But afterwards it’ll be really open. You can be in front at Gibraltar by 10 miles and it’s not over because the course won’t be done until Cartagena.”
“Seeing Biotherm kicking off the start just as we were finishing was pretty tough for us,” admitted Team Malizia co-skipper Will Harris. “But I can see in everyone’s faces that they’re raring to go again. Looking ahead to Gibraltar, nothing’s certain at all. I think that’s what we’re most excited about. There’s still lots of opportunity to catch up.”
In the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, Allagrande Mapei Racing led Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive across the finishing line to begin their Fly By stopover while Team Amaala remains racing towards Matosinhos, with an ETA overnight.
From Matosinhos the remainder of Leg 2 stretches south, past Lisbon and into the notorious bottleneck of the Strait of Gibraltar before the Mediterranean sprint to Cartagena. Almost every boat has led at some point this leg – Canada, Holcim-PRB, Paprec Arkéa, Malizia, Biotherm. Biotherm are the clear ones to beat, but when the racing is this tight, no one is safe.
Leaderboard (provisional):
Biotherm – 18 points
Paprec Arkéa – 13 points
Team Malizia – 10 points
Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive – 6 points
Team Holcim PRB – 5 points
Team AMAALA – 3 points (no Fly By points yet)
Allagrande MAPEI Racing – 3 points
Race coverage is available on www.theoceanrace.com as well as via media partner Warner Bros. Discovery and their Eurosport, TNT Sports, HBO Max and Discovery+ platforms. See our How to Follow guide here.
