The Ocean Race Europe fleet emerged from a long, sweltering night of gybing along Mallorca's north coast to find fresher breeze filling in today. All seven IMOCAs are now in reaching mode, driving northwest towards France at speeds that have lifted spirits on board.
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The improving conditions rewarded Paul Meilhat and the crew of Biotherm, whose tactical patience through the wind transition allowed them to pull clear of Rosalin Kuiper's Holcim-PRB. By midday, Biotherm had stretched their lead to 11 nautical miles.
"We had some good speed through the transition," Meilhat said. "I don't know how many many times we changed headsail – maybe five or six times – so it was a lot of work for the crew."
The overnight passage had been relentless. With the breeze barely filling the sails, crews cycled continuously through trimming, navigating, and rotating headsails as conditions kept shifting. Inside the hulls, heat and humidity extracted a heavy physical toll, leaving sailors drenched and burning through calories faster than they could replace them.
Holcim’s Carolijn Brouwer described conditions as “Hot, sticky, sweaty – but fun.” She added: “It’s hard to keep hydrated and you lose a lot of calories, so we are really trying to eat a lot to get the energy back into the body.”
Not everything about the night was a grind, though. "Going along the northern side of Mallorca was really, really beautiful," said Brouwer. "We came very close into the shore — there was enough depth there — and at the same time we were battling it out with Biotherm to see who could push further inshore."
Behind the leaders, the fleet has stretched out. Ambrogio Beccaria's Allagrande Mapei hold third, while Alan Roura's Amaala sit seventh, 50 nautical miles adrift. Between them, Paprec Arkéa, Malizia, and Canada Ocean Racing remain well within striking distance of the podium.
Holcim helmsman Franck Cammas took a measured view of the situation. "Biotherm is a little bit in front because we fell in a bit of a light spot," he said. "But there is a long way to go." The smile accompanying those words made clear he considers the contest far from settled.
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Race Control announced a significant course change this afternoon. The traditional rounding of Corsica's Giraglia rock has been removed from the route, replaced by a virtual waypoint 20 miles to the northwest. The amendment keeps the fleet clear of forecast thunderstorms and gale-force winds during the coming night, putting safety ahead of one of the Mediterranean's most recognisable sailing marks. The change reflects how quickly and severely summer weather can turn in these waters.
Fewer than 300 nautical miles remain to the finish in Nice, and while Biotherm hold the advantage, the race is far from decided. The final approach to the Côte d'Azur is expected to bring another collapse in wind near the shore, threatening to compress the fleet and reshuffle positions at a critical moment. The frontrunners are anticipated off Nice in the early hours of Friday morning, though a fading breeze could push that timing back. Biotherm lead for now, but the Mediterranean rarely makes anything straightforward.
As a postscript to this report, an interview with Alan Roura, skipper of Amaala, has just come to hand, in which he reflects on his boat's progress through the day.
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