In the light breeze of Itajaí/Brazil it was not enough for the GUYOT environnement – Team Europe to succeed. In the third Inport Race of The Ocean Race, the team around skipper Benjamin Dutreux had to settle for fifth place among the five teams, but is now also in fifth place in the overall ranking of the Inport Races.
Already in the pre-start phase, the European team got entangled in a duel with Team Biotherm of Paul Meilhat (France). Meilhat luffed up GUYOT environnement – Team Europe on the approach to the start line, taking the speed out of Dutreux’s crew and preventing them from sailing clear. So the black yacht with Benjamin Dutreux on the tiller as well as Sébastien Simon in the tactical position and Robert Stanjek and Annie Lush on the grinder in last position came over the line. Although the team was able to move up one place on the first leg, they did not manage to catch up with the very front. In the second round, even fourth place was lost when Team Malizia found the pressure faster after the gybe on the downwinder and passed.
The wind did not play into the cards of GUYOT environnement – Team Europe. Under the cloudy sky of Itajaí, no sea breeze could build up, preventing the yachts from getting on the foils. With the higher hull weight of the older design, the European team thus had to cope with the speed disadvantage and could not land the hoped-for respectable success. The focus is now entirely on the fourth leg of the race, which starts on Sunday at 1.15 pm (local time) and leads over 5500 nautical miles to Newport/USA.
