The first edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic is proving to be one of the most demanding transatlantic races in recent memory, with Sam Goodchild among those marvelling at the brutal conditions that have tested crews and boats alike during the 3,200-nautical mile sprint from New York to Lorient.
The brand new Malizia 4 dominated the early stages before surrendering the lead to 11th Hour Racing, skippered by Francesca Clapcich. What began as a straightforward power-reach in strong winds has evolved into a far more complex tactical battle as the fleet enters its second phase with approximately 1,240 miles remaining for the leaders. The fierce Atlantic depression that delivered punishing winds and big seas is now giving way to lighter, more complex conditions as a ridge builds towards the finish.
This morning Clapcich and her crew on 11th Hour Racing hold a slender advantage, as they have for the past two days, but Paul Meilhat and his team on United by the Ocean have closed dramatically in the lighter air, slashing a deficit of nearly 30 miles to just over a mile. On the tracker the two boats are virtually overlapping, with the new Guillaume Verdier-designed DMG Mori Global One just over 20 miles behind and closing. Team Malizia, skippered by Boris Herrmann, is dealing with damage to a foil casing after a collision but was still benefitting from stronger winds further back, sitting 50 miles behind the leader while travelling six knots faster.
While the top four boats contest the win, a gap of roughly 300 miles separates them from Oliver Heer’s Embrace the Challenge, which has been hampered by serious mainsail damage sustained while reefing in the storm. Further back, Conrad Colman and his all-New Zealand crew on MSIG Europe, the only non-foiler in the six-strong fleet, trail by an additional 110 miles but may sense an opportunity to snatch fifth place.
Among those watching this absorbing battle between boats and the elements is the current IMOCA Globe Series leader Sam Goodchild, who won the season-opening 1000 Race and finished second in the Vendée Arctique. Goodchild is a tough customer on the water, but even he has been struck by the severity of this race. “What stands out for me watching from on land, is how relentless it looks and has been,” he told the Class. “It’s been non-stop strong winds and it’s been really intense.”
Goodchild knows this course well, having sailed as part of the Holcim-PRB crew during the last Ocean Race when they set a new 24-hour distance record. Yet he believes this crossing has been far worse. “It seems like they have had pretty difficult conditions compared to the norm,” he said. “It seems like very unstable wind in front of the weather front and a very nasty sea state by the sounds of it. During the transatlantic we did on Holcim we had flat water and amazing conditions.”
Currently awaiting a new boat in the colours of MACIF from the board of Guillaume Verdier launching next spring, Goodchild has been watching the two new boats in this fleet closely. He has been particularly impressed with Malizia 4, the latest design from Antoine Koch.
“Malizia has been very impressive since the boat splashed and it’s their second new boat. They have got a very organised team, they have been planning this for a long time and they’ve done an impressive job of hitting the ground running and dealing with the little issues they have had,” he said.
“They have one of the most experienced IMOCA teams in the fleet – with Justine Mettraux, Julien Villion and Cole Brauer sailing alongside Boris Herrmann – so to see them out front wasn’t a surprise. And they’ve got a boat that is an evolution of what we’ve already been sailing for the last five or six years, so they are not figuring out how to make it work. They know how to do that. In that situation you are looking at the details, but 95% of it is what you do already, so seeing them out front has not surprised me.”
Goodchild says there is no surprise either to see 11th Hour Racing at the sharp end after Malizia had to drop back. The crew is led by Clapcich and Will Harris, who finished second together in last year’s Transat Café L’Or. As for Paul Meilhat on United by the Ocean, formerly known as Biotherm, Goodchild described him as a “metronome,” a neat summation of his consistent competitive pace across consecutive races.
When it comes to DMG Mori Global One, Goodchild is reserving judgment on performance potential. The crew led by Kojiro Shiraishi of Japan, which includes Nico Lunven and Sam Davies, started off the pace on their new Verdier design featuring a full-length bustle in the hull, but have gradually found their feet and could yet contend for the win.
“It’s an interesting boat,” said Goodchild. “It’s definitely pushing out there and it will be exciting to see how it goes. They were obviously pretty slow off the start going upwind. They are doing better now but they are not blowing people out of the water. Is that because the boat is not quick, or is it because the team isn’t ready to push it hard or what? It’s going to be interesting to follow…”
Now that speeds have fallen and the leaders have started to feel the effects of the ridge, Goodchild expects survival mode to give way to full-on racing, which should reveal more about relative boat performance.
“It’s not going to be a reach on starboard all the way to the finish,” he said, “so more things are going to happen. You might start to see more performance differences because to a certain measure, it’s been a little bit of survival mode – ‘let’s go the same speed as the other boats and not try to break anything’ as opposed to ‘let’s go pedal-to-the-metal and see what happens.’ So it’s when the sea state starts dropping down and the wind drops, we might see a bit more difference in average performance.”
