The already fierce battle for the lead in The Ocean Race Atlantic has intensified over the past 24 hours as the leading pack compressed in lightening winds on the approach to a ridged high pressure system blocking the crews’ path to the finish line in Lorient, France.

This afternoon the top three teams were separated by fewer than 11 nautical miles in terms of distance to the finish as they sailed upwind in 10–15-knot south-easterly winds. Ahead lies a volatile light-wind zone that the frontrunners will need to pick their way through with care before they break through into faster downwind sailing again.

At 1200 UTC / 1400 CEST today Kojiro Shiraishi’s DMG MORI Global One (JPN) topped the rankings with 1,203 nm to race. Second in the standings was Paul Meilhat’s United by the Ocean (FRA) with 1,210 nm to go, with Francesca Clapcich’s 11th Hour Racing (USA) sitting in third, 1,214 nm from Lorient. Meanwhile, Boris Herrmann’s fourth-placed Team Malizia (GER) was still very much in contention for a podium place, despite being 52 nm off the lead.

The moderating weather conditions out in the North Atlantic, after several days of breakneck pace for the crews of the 60-foot, foil-assisted IMOCA yachts, have given the sailors a welcome opportunity to eat, sleep, and recharge themselves physically and mentally.

DMG MORI Global One crew member Arisa Moriya summarised the weather scenario like this:

“The last two days it was very bumpy in a very strong wind, but now the wind is decreasing,” she said. “Over the next two days it will be a very changeable and difficult situation.

“We have been sailing with a low pressure system, but now we are getting out of the strongest part, and soon we will cross a high pressure system. Then we will have light wind upwind conditions followed by reaching/downwind. So we will have everything over the next few days. We need to sail fast and make good sail choices and just keep pushing.”

Despite losing out badly after becoming becalmed in an unexpected wind hole on Sunday evening, the Japanese entry pulled back into contention overnight when their southerly positioning saw them able to sail a more direct route eastwards than their French and American rivals further to the north.

On board long-time race leader 11th Hour Racing, skipper Francesca Clapcich said her team was trying to hang on in the top group, despite the new conditions not being optimum for the American boat.

“These upwind medium-to-light winds are not really our strength,” she said. “The high pressure is moving but we don’t know how fast. Hopefully then we will get into more breeze and it is going to be a reaching angle all the way to the point of Brittany, more or less.”

United by the Ocean, skipper Paul Meilhat says he believed the latter part of the race would see easier conditions than the crews had experienced so far, as the top three raced in close formation the rest of the way across the Atlantic, to what he expects to be a thrilling finish.

“Maybe flatter water will mean higher average speeds,” he said. “The race is still really open, because we are moving up against this ridge of no wind, and then the low pressure we have been in will push us towards the finish line again. So, probably, we will arrive all together – which is great for the public watching the race! We have also seen that Malizia can be very fast sometimes, so maybe they will join us before the end.”

On board the fifth-placed Swiss entry Embrace the Challenge, Oliver Heer gave his crew a rallying pep talk after the sailors completed a successful repair to their mainsail that took most of the day yesterday. At 1200 UTC / 1400 CEST the Swiss boat was sailing downwind at 18 knots, 340 nm behind the leaders.

“I know everyone is tired,” Heer told his crew. “The last two days were not easy, they were stressful, they were exhausting. As a team, we need to pull together. We are all professionals, and at the end we are doing what we love – which is sailing. The conditions now are really nice, so let’s sail as a team, let’s communicate, let’s listen to each other, sail the boat together, and enjoy the last 2,000 miles.”

In sixth place, the smiles had returned to the faces of Conrad Colman’s New Zealand crew aboard MSIG Europe, after the non-foiling boat broke out of the light winds of the previous day and into stronger downwind conditions. On Monday afternoon, the Kiwi entry was sailing at 12 knots, 440 nm behind the leaders.

With the leading trio in less favourable conditions, Monday’s Super Sprint saw Embrace the Challenge take their first win of the series over Team Maliza and a second podium position for MSIG Europe.