There are good reasons to love and hate the Southern Ocean at the same time. Even during spring in the southern hemisphere, at such deep latitudes it can be unrelentingly cold. Cold enough that icebergs are a threat and must be monitored on radar. For long periods of the voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn, the crew members are more than a thousand miles from any other human being. Except for the astronauts who fly through space, about 250 miles high, on the International Space Station.
But the Southern Ocean is also every sailor's dream. The best trip where fun surfing huge waves for weeks is guaranteed. "The South can be amazing," adds Enright. "There are strong westerly winds and you can always go downwind, which is a sailor's dream. But it is also a pretty treacherous part of the world. In the two previous editions of the race we have experienced both situations. In 2014- 15 of us were a group of young people and finding ourselves leading the fleet at Cape Horn was a magical moment. But in the next edition of the regatta our rigging fell off about 50 miles after passing Cape Horn. The Southern Ocean can give you. and it can also take you away."
Paul Meilhat, skipper of Biotherm, signed up late for The Ocean Race. The French skipper thought he didn't have much time to gather the kind of experience he wanted on board, but Leg 3 made it easier to convince his IMOCA teammates to join the crew. “When I announced the project and said I was looking for a team, everyone asked to come on board in the third stage. It is the one that everyone, the public and the journalists talk about because it is almost half of the race in terms of miles and the longest in the history of this race."
"But we must not forget that we are going to have 10 scoring legs. This is a big part of the regatta, but we must not focus only on this stage, but also on The Ocean Race as a whole. That is why the most important objective is to get to Itajaí to be able to finish the regatta."
Two other French skippers are also well aware of their importance in determining the outcome of The Ocean Race in four months' time. Neither Kevin Escoffier nor Benjamin Dutreux want to take the results of the first two stages for granted. Escoffier and Team Holcim-PRB have a perfect score with victories in two stages across the Atlantic, but are not taking their first successes for granted, while Dutreux and GUYOT environnement - Team Europe have finished last in the initial two stages.
Dutreux insists that the classification does not reflect the very equal level of performance of the entire fleet. After all, GUYOT held the lead for much of Leg 2. "I'm very happy with the start of the race, even if the classification doesn't show it," said Dutreux, who did not sail the second leg to Cape Verde. "The classification is just numbers, and what I feel is that the level of the fleet is very high and very even. We have a big fight with the other boats, and our score is not the best, but I am very happy with the fight and the effort we put in, and that's the most important thing. I feel like we're making good progress and I'm looking forward to getting back on board and fighting for 20 percent of the race at this tremendous stage."
Boris Herrmann does not hide that his boat has been built with the Southern Ocean in mind. “You can't build a boat that is good for all types of wind and wave conditions," said the Team Malizia skipper. "But downwind in strong conditions is what we and (our designers) VPLP designed this boat for. ship. I hope we can take advantage of it in Stage 3 and show that the boat is good for such conditions in the Southern Ocean."
Herrmann also points out that there must be a change in mentality when leaving the Atlantic and heading south. "What we are about to do, I think is really the most important thing about this edition of The Ocean Race and it is very different from the other stages. It is almost a different type of sailing or racing. In the Atlantic we may be used to sailing very equal, to be very focused on performance all the time. But entering the Southern Ocean is also a great adventure."
"If we need a rescue, it can take 10 days for a warship to reach these regions to help us. We are thousands of kilometers from the nearest land. We are really alone."
15-03-2023
