Paul Meilhat and his crew on Biotherm complete an immaculate start to The Ocean Race Europe with victory in Leg 2

Arriving at the Leg 2 finishing port of Cartagena in southern Spain in the early hours of this morning, Meilhat and his team – the British sailor Sam Goodchild, the Australian-Briton Jack Bouttell and the French sailor Amélie Grassi – completed a clean sweep of the first two legs.

That comprises victory in Leg 1 from Kiel to Portsmouth, then wins in both stages of Leg 2, from Portsmouth to the “fly-by” stopover at Matosinhos in Portugal, and then from Matosinhos to Cartagena. To cap it off, Biotherm was also first through the first two Bonus Scoring Gates of the race.

In all, it gives the French team a comfortable seven-point lead at the top of the seven-boat table, ahead of Yoann Richomme’s Paprec Arkéa, with the longest leg of the race now completed and three more legs to come.

Biotherm has been sailed by a young and hugely talented crew who have been masters of the many transitions this race has already featured, between episodes of heavy downwind sailing and areas of calms and very light winds. The boat is fast upwind and fast in medium conditions, while the crew has managed to hold onto their quicker rivals in heavy air, ready to pounce when conditions change.

Meilhat started this race confident he could compete for the top of the podium in a proven boat, but he is taking nothing for granted as his team now moves on to preparations for Leg 3, from Cartagena to the French port of Nice.

“We knew winning The Ocean Race Europe was possible, but it’s definitely not decided yet,” Meilhat said on the dockside at Cartagena, having arrived just under an hour ahead of Team Holcim-PRB in second place, and nearly three hours ahead of Paprec Arkéa.

“Still, we are surprised to have won the first two legs. We’re simply enjoying it and I think it comes down to the four of us, plus the OBR (On Board Reporter) working really well together on board with a strong team spirit. We’ll just try to keep the momentum going for as long as we can.”

Biotherm started the second half of Leg 2 from Matosinhos in powerful downwind conditions which favoured Richomme’s crew, who duly took the lead off Cape St Vincent and then held it through the Strait of Gibraltar, until a key transition zone off the Spanish coast when Meilhat managed to get ahead.

I’d say around 60% of the race was sailed in heavy downwind conditions,”explained Meilhat. “Those were definitely not the best conditions for us, but we tried to close the gap with the leader. We knew that the race would be decided in the transitions and there were a lot of them. Paprec Arkéa was really fast, but each time the wind shifted we focused on choosing the best position for the new breeze.”

Meilhat highlighted the contribution of Goodchild. “I think we were confident and Sam did an excellent job with the navigation, while the whole crew worked really well together. Winning again as a team feels fantastic,” he said.

Source @IMOCA