Holcim-PRB, the dominant leader of The Ocean Race, has set a new 24-hour IMOCA record of 595.26 nautical milesIMOCA record run on Day 14 of The Ocean Race: high speeds onboard Team Holcim – PRB. Drone view.Kevin Escoffier\u2019s Holcim-PRB, the dominant leader of The Ocean Race, has set a new 24-hour IMOCA record by covering a breath-taking 595.26 nautical miles (1102 kms) over Saturday 11-Sunday 12 March.\u00a0
\nThis means the crew of Holcim-PRB maintained an average pace of 24.8 knots racing at near 50\u00b0S in this long Southern Ocean stage. (The IMOCA record is subject to\u00a0validation by the World Speed Sailing Record Council).
\nThe previous official IMOCA record was set by Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss in 2018 (solo) at 539.71 miles, while the crew of Charal had smashed out a 558-mule run on the delivery back from the Route du Rhum last December (which couldn\u2019t be ratified).
\nIMOCA record and maximum points
\nEscoffier\u2019s Holcim-PRB team was also first through the Tasmanian scoring gate on this Southern Ocean leg. They collect a full five points for passing longitude 143\u00b0 East at 17:45 (UTC) today, Sunday 12 March.
\nThese maximum points add to Holcim-PRB\u2019s back to back wins in Legs 1 and 2, and puts Escoffier and crew of Abby Ehler, Sam Goodchild and Tom Laperche firmly atop the leaderboard on 15 points.
\n\u201cThe rhythm of these last hours of racing has been set by a big push to the scoring gate and this first set of points for leg 3,\u201d Escoffier said in a French interview.
\nHappy skipper, happy boat: Kevin Escoffier is leading a successful team on Team Holcim-PRB in The Ocean Race having set a new IMOCA record 24hr run
\n\u201cWe built a big lead early this leg, but the others caught a favourable weather front and there was nearly a re-start a few days ago. But we managed to hold on to a bit of a lead through it all, which we really wanted to keep for the scoring gate.
\n\u201cYesterday (Saturday) the sea state was manageable enough that the IMOCA speed records kept falling. For us, we are very happy to get the record even if that wasn\u2019t the goal, but an objective towards the goal of leading at the scoring gate. We keep learning about this boat and finding ways to go faster and faster.\u201d
\nAlthough there has been the expected compression across the fleet, and Holcim-PRB\u2019s lead has shrunk from over 600 miles one week ago to just 136 to second-placed Boris Herrmann\u2018s\u00a0Malizia today, they remain the boat to beat.
\nRudder damage for 11th Hour Racing
\nThe challenge for the chasing pack is how hard to push in order to stay in touch, and how much they need to nurse their boats in order to avoid exacerbating any damage.
\nMalizia had to make significant rig repairs last week, and is now racing within sight of 11th Hour Racing, who has reported potentially serious rudder issues.
\nCharlie Enright\u2019s crew on 11th Hour Racing discovered cracking to both their port and starboard rudders, while the boat carries only one spare.
\nAfter crew member Jack Bouttell ground back some layers of carbon, one was discovered to have more seriously delaminated, leading Bouttell to describe it as \u2018a write off\u2019 in a video put out by the team, while the other appears to have more superficial cracking in the outer wrapping layers of laminate.
\nJack Bouttell and team mates checking the extent of rudder damage onboard 11th Hour Racing Team
\nThe crew have replaced the starboard rudder, now the active rudder, with the spare, and marked the port one to monitor if the cracking worsens.
\n11th Hour Racing navigator Simon Fisher explained how two days of back-to-back repairs for the crew would have a knock-on effect on their tactical choices.\u00a0
\n\u201cWe find ourselves in quite a difficult situation today. Obviously as a result of having to slow down for sail repairs [yesterday] we\u2019re a little more exposed than the rest of the fleet to the ridge of high pressure behind which caught us up this morning And then obviously the slow down to replace the starboard rudder with our spare one [puts us closer to the light winds].
\n\u201cWe\u2019re very much at the risk of being a system back.\u201d
\nSuper-close racing in The Ocean Race. Photo taken from Team Malizia on\u00a0March 12 2023, as they overtake 11th Hour Racing Team at around 50\u00b0S in the Indian Ocean
\nSo close are the chasing pack, that the crews have been able to clearly observe their rivals\u2019 set-ups and who is fastest in which conditions.
\n\u201cAfter working our way through Biotherm last night it was Malizia\u2019s turn to do the same to us this afternoon,\u201d wrote 11th Hour Racing media crew member Amory Ross on Sunday.
\n\u201cThey seem to be able to carry more sail and keep their bow up, presumably with the shape of their hull, and while we struggled in the waves to keep from nosediving they were able to sail at the same speed but lower.
\n\u201cWe watched as they sailed down to us, around our bow, and then continued on in a more southerly direction.\u201d
\nBiotherm in 4th
\nBiotherm is currently around 70 miles back in 4th, having dropped behind and to the south of the chasing pair over the course of today. While Biotherm have not reported any serious reason for any slowdown, crew member Sam Davies did reveal that they\u2019ve also been making some running repairs.
\nGrey Southern Ocean days and high speeds in Leg 3 onboard Biotherm
\n\u201cFinally the conditions are more stable, the wind is coming from the North and it is much less cold,\u201d she posted this evening.\u00a0
\n\u201cWe are recovering the energy lost in the last difficult days. The boat gave us a few surprises and we had to repair several small pieces of equipment. Nothing serious, but it\u2019s draining our energy to be on deck in the cold and we\u2019re missing precious hours of sleep.\u201d
\nThe fleet still has 7,500 miles to go until the finish in Itajai, Brazil.
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\nThe post Fastest IMOCA record: 595 miles in 24 hours for Ocean Race leaders appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Holcim-PRB, the dominant leader of The Ocean Race, has set a new 24-hour IMOCA record of 595.26 nautical milesIMOCA record run on Day 14 of The Ocean Race: high speeds onboard Team Holcim – PRB. Drone view.Kevin Escoffier\u2019s Holcim-PRB, the … <\/p>\n