Overnight Mediterranean winds transformed the second day of Leg 5, lifting the leading pack out of the near-becalmed conditions that had frustrated the fleet since it departed Genova, Italy on Sunday afternoon. The 1,600-nautical mile passage to Boka Bay in Montenegro had begun with all seven international, mixed-gender, four-person crews crawling south, hugging the coast past Nice and St. Tropez in barely a breath of air.
That changed around 0230 CEST when a northwesterly of eight to ten knots filled in and gave the front-runners their first real chance to bear away south. Yoann Richomme's Paprec Arkéa, Paul Meilhat's overall race leader Biotherm (FRA), Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia (GER), and Ambrogio Beccaria's Allagrande Mapei Racing (ITA) all seized the moment together, driving downwind at speeds touching 32 knots as they pressed toward the Leg 5 Scoring Gate off Sardinia's Santo Stefano.
Paprec Arkéa crossed the gate first at 07:33:24 CEST to claim two bonus points, with Allagrande Mapei Racing arriving just under a minute later at 07:34:21 CEST to take the single point for second place.
Points awarded at Santo Stefano Scoring Gate
Paprec Arkéa - 07:33:24 CEST - 2 points
Allagrande Mapei Racing - 07:34:21 CEST - 1 point
The remaining three boats were not so fortunate. Rosalin Kuiper's Swiss-flagged Team Holcim - PRB, Canada Ocean Racing (sailing this leg under Britain's Pip Hare), and Alan Roura's Team AMAALA (SUI/KSA) all missed the early pressure, left wallowing in a wind hole while the leading quartet steadily extended their advantage on the tracker.
Lincoln Dews, aboard Canada Ocean Racing, described the experience bluntly. "It's frustrating," he said. "We were a little bit slower yesterday afternoon and a few miles behind turned into 30 miles. It's amazing how fast these boats are when they get going."
By 1330 CEST the leading four, Paprec Arkéa, Mapei, Biotherm, and Malizia, were clustered within six miles of each other west of the Spanish island of Menorca. Holcim trailed in fifth, 12 miles off the pace. Canada Ocean Racing sat sixth, 82 nautical miles behind the leader, while Team AMAALA lay seventh, a further 61 nautical miles adrift.
Kuiper made no attempt to hide her dissatisfaction at being left chasing, though she was not prepared to concede the leg with potentially six days of racing still to run. "It's nice to be fast again, we are doing 27 knots, but the fleet is far ahead so we have to catch up a lot," she said. "We are going to work hard to catch up on the fleet. I wish we were ahead, but it is like it is, so we will try to keep the positivity and go."
Dews echoed that resolve from Canada Ocean Racing, pointing to volatile weather expected further down the course as a potential leveller. "It looks like we have finally got back into the pressure that everyone else got earlier today," he said. "So hopefully they park up tonight and we can go hunting."
At the front, Richomme reflected on what had been a strong opening to the leg for Paprec Arkéa, a crew that had spent the majority of the first two days near the head of the fleet since leaving Genova. "Two points at the Santa Stefano Scoring Gate, that was really good," he said. "We have put in a lot of effort since the start to be ahead and that paid off, so that was nice. We crossed the line 57 seconds ahead of Allagrande Mapei so it was not much of a lead, but it is still two points and it means we are four points ahead of Holcim now [in the overall standings], which is a nice little margin to have."
Beccaria, skipper of second-placed Allagrande Mapei Racing, was satisfied to be sailing in pressure and running with the leaders, yet he cautioned that conditions further south were unlikely to stay straightforward. "It's better with some wind, finally the miles are starting to decrease," he said. "For now, for maybe four hours, we can enjoy some downwind sailing, but it is not going to last. It's going to be stormy, no wind, waves, very complicated."
