Six days into The Ocean Race Atlantic, the fleet still refuses to settle. Just when it looks like someone might break clear, the weather steps in and threatens to squash the whole race back together.
11th Hour Racing and United by the Ocean are trading the lead like a game of tag, sailing less than two miles apart after Paul Meilhat and his crew spent all of Sunday clawing back the gap. First one boat noses ahead, then the other. It's been that way for hours.
Behind them, DMG MORI Global One sits third, 25 miles back and tucked slightly south of the leaders. Team Malizia, in fourth, has had a rougher run of it altogether.
A damaged port foil two days ago was bad enough. Then an autopilot failure hit as gusts approached 40 knots. This morning Team Malizia was 57 miles west of the front two and facing a string of manoeuvres just to get back into position before the lighter air arrives.
And lighter air is exactly what's coming.
Forecasts point to the wind easing across the whole fleet, with 11th Hour Racing already down to 11 knots compared with 18.5 knots still being enjoyed by Team Malizia further back. That gap in wind speed could shuffle the order in a fleet racing this tightly.
Meilhat saw it coming. "We're definitely going to end up in a windless zone that could close the gaps," he said yesterday, before adding with obvious relish: "Boris (Herrmann) can come back, which means the race is really wide open… It's possible we could all arrive in Lorient together!"
It's been brutal out there regardless of position. A low-pressure system dragged the fleet through gusts over 30 knots and heavy, confused seas over the weekend.
"The sea state was terrible and, with the angle of the waves, it was really painful," said Francesca Clapcich of 11th Hour Racing. "It takes more mental energy than physical energy."
Nicolas Lunven, sailing on DMG MORI Global One, put it plainly: "Sometimes we ease the sheets just to make sure the boat doesn't go over 35 knots and violently bury its bow."
Further back, more than 350 miles behind the leaders, Embrace the Challenge and MSIG Europe are dealing with troubles of their own. Oliver Heer's boat has been struggling since a mainsail tear yesterday, and the fix fell to Liz Wardley, who spent Sunday working inside the boom bag, stitching and gluing the sail back together.
MSIG Europe has had it tough in a different way. Light winds and an uncomfortable westerly swell have worn the crew down.
"I feel like I'm suffering along with the boat," said Conrad Colman.
There's still a prize to chase for those further down the fleet. The daily "Super Sprint", a 20-minute burst of speed racing held from 5:30pm each day, gives every team a shot at a result regardless of overall position. Colman's crew finished third in it three days ago, while Team Malizia has dominated the format so far, winning three of the five held since the start.
Another Super Sprint runs this afternoon, live from 1700 CEST, and with the fleet bunching up behind a fading breeze, it could matter more than ever.
