Mediterranean Chaos: Leaders Stumble, Fleet Closes In
It was a cruel twist. Yoann Richomme’s crew looked unstoppable, stretching their lead with a blistering run. “We made a great move in the night with a good sail configuration, hitting 30 knots,” Richomme said proudly. But dawn brought heartbreak: “The fan just completely turned off! We went from 25 knots to 4 knots in 10 seconds.”
Their gamble offshore had backfired. Hunting for gradient breeze, Paprec Arkéa found nothing but glassy seas. Biotherm, meanwhile, hugged the Spanish coastline, sniffed out a faint thermal, and crept back to five knots. By early morning Paul Meilhat’s crew had seized the lead. Holcim-PRB slotted into second, though Franck Cammas kept expectations in check: “In these conditions, there’s always a chance for the boats behind to come back.” Alan Roberts added: “It’s flat calm one minute and 30 knots the next. It’ll be light and tricky all the way in.”
Behind them, the hunters were on the charge. Team Malizia and Allagrande Mapei blasted through the Strait of Gibraltar at over 30 knots before slamming into the same light patch that snared Paprec. By Friday morning, though, they were moving again at 7–9 knots, hacking down a gap that had been 100 miles to just 35.
“All night it was crazy,” said Allagrande’s Manon Peyre. “The wind went up to 25 knots, we changed sails, gybed constantly, hit 35 knots of boat speed. I was hanging on for dear life!”
Malizia co-skipper Will Harris relished the battle: “It’s good to have another boat to push against. The front guys are still ahead, but this is the Med – it’s never over. We’re not chasing fourth place, we’re chasing higher.” Teammate Loïs Berrehar agreed: “The race is never finished until the finish line. We just need to take what comes and use it.”
At midday, Biotherm held an 18-mile cushion over Holcim-PRB. Paprec Arkéa, still trapped in their offshore hole, were six miles adrift in third – with Malizia and Allagrande snapping at their heels. Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive had cleared Gibraltar in sixth, while Team Amaala followed behind.
For Richomme, it’s an all-too-familiar story. In Leg 1, Paprec Arkéa were caught in a Dover light-wind trap, slipping behind Malizia – a mistake that cost them a podium. With fewer than 100 miles left, they now risk sliding not just out of the lead, but off the podium entirely. “We still have several transitions to get through,” Richomme admitted. “It’s going to be unpredictable. We’ll shift from westerlies to easterlies, but it will stay light all day. Everything is still on the table.”
Cammas echoed the warning from Holcim: “We’ll crawl upwind waiting for the northeast breeze. It could be long, it could be painful – but that’s the joy of the Med. It’s never over until it’s over.”
The finish window is wide open. Cartagena could see the leaders anywhere between 23:00 Friday and 05:00 Saturday local time. What looked like a straightforward drag race yesterday has dissolved into a drifting match where every puff of breeze matters and every mile clawed back could decide the podium.