Sunday will be a big moment in The Ocean Race: The third leg of The Ocean Race is the race within the race. At 12,750 nautical miles from Cape Town, South Africa to Itajaí, Brazil, it is the longest leg ever sailed in the 50 years of this event. The crews are challenged to pass all three iconic capes of the Southern Hemisphere (Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn), they will dive into the Roaring Forties, sail to the ice exclusion zone and finally climb back up the Atlantic. The sailors will have to go to the limit of their possibilities. The saying is already circulating, “If you haven’t sailed this leg, you haven’t sailed the race.”
On Sunday at 2:15 pm (local time), the starting signal will be given for the royal leg. The crews will be put to a tough test right away with strong headwinds in the first hours. Afterwards, they will have to cross another ridge of the St. Helena High before reaching the low-pressure trough in the Southern Ocean, which is supposed to lead the crews on the fastest possible journey around the Antarctic continent. Nevertheless, a leg duration of 30 to 40 days is expected.
The leg counts double for the overall ranking. After the halfway point, the first points will be awarded at longitude 166° 25’ East (south of New Zealand). As at the finish in Itajaí, the first yacht will receive five points, the last one one point. The previous tableau in the overall ranking can therefore be completely rearranged.
Good to know
The Crew of the GUYOT environnement – Team Europe will be:
- Benjamin Dutreux (FRA) Skipper
- Robert Stanjek (GER) Co-Skipper
- Sébastien Simon (FRA)
- Annie Lush (GBR)
- Charles Drapeau (FRA) OBR
The current ranking can be found here.
The livestream for the departure of Leg 3 will start at 2:00 pm (local time) on the Youtube-Channel of The Ocean Race
The Tracking for this leg you will find on the Website of GUYOT environnement – Team Europe.
