With four boats still able to win and roughly 500 miles left to sail, The Ocean Race Atlantic is shaping up as a genuine scrap, with the leading pack flying across flat water south of a moving high pressure system. New Zealand interest remains strong, with Conrad Colman's non-foiling MSIG Europe holding its own against newer foiling rivals further back in the fleet.
Kojiro Shiraishi's DMG MORI Global One (JPN) leads the way, hitting speeds close to 30 knots in southerly winds. The Japanese boat has sat furthest south in the leading group for days now, a positioning call that looks to be paying off handsomely as it delivers the ideal wind angle straight towards Lorient.
At 1200 UTC / 1400 CEST on Wednesday, DMG MORI Global One held a 10-nautical-mile lead over Francesca Clapcich's 11th Hour Racing (USA) in second. Paul Meilhat's United by the Ocean (FRA) sat third, 13 nm further back. Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia (GER) was fourth, and furthest north, 35 nm off the pace.
Nobody on the lead boat sounds stressed about it.
"All is good on board," said a smiling Samantha Davies aboard DMG MORI Global One. "We have less than 500 miles to go and we are sending it fast with the J0. We have been doing that all night and it's fun. It's fun and it's fast and what is good is that we are still in the lead. But it is really really close, so we are going to have to push really hard, and that is what we are doing right now."
The mood on United by the Ocean has lifted too, after several rough days trapped below deck. The crew of four has been swapping turns on the helm, making the most of drier conditions on deck.
"Now it's windier and no more waves, so champagne conditions," said Portuguese co-skipper Mariana Lobato. "Everyone has been helming and it was nice to be able to see all the modes. In these conditions I think we can do better than the pilot because we can find the balance, anticipate and make sure we don't lose our apparent wind. As a sailor I am enjoying the day, the moment, the life. It's beautiful, the sky, the horizon, I feel free, liberty, and it is amazing to be on the ocean enjoying this privilege to be here."
Tactics, for now, take a back seat to raw boat speed.
"It is not a control race, right now," said United by the Ocean skipper Paul Meilhat. "It's about taking the best angle to the finish line."
"Four boats can still win this race, with four different strategies," agreed teammate Benjamin Ferré.
Lighter winds are forecast closer to the French coast, which should slow the leaders and could squeeze the top four back together again before the finish. Current predictions put the first boats home sometime between 1200 UTC / 1400 CEST and 1800 UTC / 2000 CEST on Thursday, September 10.
"It will be close," warned Nico Lunven from DMG MORI Global One. "The wind is dropping ahead of us so the fleet will compress again before the finish. We might be leading now, but it could all change."
Further back, Conrad Colman's MSIG Europe (NZL) sits in a strong position, along with Oliver Heer's Embrace the Challenge (SUI) in fifth, both able to sail a more direct line to Lorient without diverting north around the low pressure system. Colman has quietly been the story of the fleet's back end, matching newer foiling designs he had no business keeping pace with.
"Over the past couple of days we have been chomping into the lead of the boats ahead," Colman said. "We are coming in with a new vein of breeze and that allowed us to take back a lot of miles on Embrace the Challenge. That's a 2020-generation foiler, so in theory a lot faster than us, but we have been matching them boat-for-boat."
"So on the whole things are looking good, and crucially we are looking fast for the arrival... it looks like we are going to arrive in Lorient on Friday afternoon."
Wednesday's Super Sprint, the last of the series, was won by Team Malizia for the fourth time in eight attempts. That result hands Malizia the overall Super Sprint series title ahead of DMG MORI Global One, with Team Francesca Clapcich powered by 11th Hour Racing third overall. Fittingly, it's the fleet's two newest boats that proved the most consistent across the series.
Onshore, Lorient is gearing up. Ocean Live Park opened on Wednesday afternoon at La Base, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Mayor Fabrice Loher, IMOCA President Antoine Mermod, and Race Chairman Richard Brisius. The park runs daily from 10am through Sunday 13 September, with family activities, ocean literacy programmes, Try-Sailing sessions and evening concerts on offer as the fleet closes in.
With the wind due to fade and the fleet poised to concertina back together, the finish into Lorient promises to be as tight as the racing itself, and for New Zealand fans, Colman's charge down the fleet's back end adds another reason to watch the final miles unfold.
