Biotherm (FRA) and Holcim – PRB (SUI) are in a nip and tuck battle for the lead today after a tense night of upwind sailing along the Spanish coast for the seven IMOCA crews on Leg 3 of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 from Cartagena, Spain to Nice, France.
The French and Swiss crews have been in close formation since soon after the Leg 3 scoring gate at Cabo de Palos, where Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm maintained their perfect scoreline in the European tour so far, after edging out Paprec Arkéa (FRA) to pick up two more valuable points – a moment the French sailors briefly celebrated with a round of high fives.
“Paul made a really good start and Sam was managing the strategy really well,” said Biotherm co-skipper Amélie Grassi (FRA). “We had some good speed, so yes, two more points at the scoring gate. We are really happy [with that], it’s like two points in the rankings so we are really happy with that.”
Picking their way along the coast last night, the teams had to choose between a better heading but less breeze as they got closer to shore and the lure of more wind further offshore.
“It’s been breeze versus angle pretty much the whole night,” explained Team Malizia’s Cole Brauer. “You get a nicer angle going into the shore, but less breeze, so you kind of have to play both sides to find a little happy middle ground.”
With the Mediterranean breeze ranging overnight from eight to 25 knots at times, across the fleet the sailors have had little opportunity for rest, let alone sleep – and sweltering temperatures inside the carbon IMOCA yachts have added to their discomfort as they toiled down below.
“It’s been pretty up and down,” Brauer explained as Malizia approached Ibiza. “Tons and tons of trimming, moving things, trying things. Holcim PRB and Biotherm are ahead of us – we haven’t lost them completely, they’re still in sight. It’s mainly about organising ourselves in a way so that, when we get the shift that we want, we can tack and it will be advantageous for us. We need to stay in as much breeze as we possibly can.”
Team Holcim – PRB helmsman Franck Cammas said the workload onboard had been intense so far because of the number of tacks necessary in the upwind conditions.
“We tacked many times right from the start,” he said. “The wind dropped so we hoisted a bigger sail – the J0 – but we are still beating. So the beginning of the leg was hard because there were a lot of manoeuvres. For me it’s easy because I helm,” he said with a laugh. “But for the crew, it is not easy at all. They have had a good fitness session right from the start, but they did a good job.”
After squeezing through the gap between Cap de la Nau and a race-mandated exclusion zone shortly before 0300 this morning, at first light the two leaders began to tack their way along the northern coast of the holiday island of Ibiza – the most westerly of the Balearic archipelago.
By 1200 CEST, there was just over a mile separating leader Biotherm from Holcim – PRB in second, as the fleet continued to sail upwind in around 16 knots of northerly breeze heading for the rocky outcrop of Dragonera off the western tip of Mallorca.
12 miles behind, the chasing pack is being led by Team Paprec Arkéa in third, but the French crew have the other four teams nipping at their transom – all closely situated within less than a mile of them.
The crews are expected to work their way along the northern coast of Mallorca during the day, before passing well to the north of Menorca and making a turn towards the French coast during their second night at sea on Leg 3.
For live updates and race tracking, visit www.theoceanrace.com.
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