Stage 3: The Musto South Atlantic Challenge | What's to come

The fleet has bid adiós to Punta del Este and is back out on the water for its next taste of the Atlantic. With over 3,500 nautical miles between them and their next stop, Cape Town, South Africa, teams can expect exhilarating downwind sailing, relentless waves, and cold, fast conditions as they surf towards Africa.

With few opportunities for respite and limited tactical options, this leg is all about strategy, endurance, and resilience.

As Stage 3: The Musto South Atlantic Challenge gets underway, Deputy Race Director Hannah Brewis tells us what can be expected on this next stage of racing: “As the fleet departs Punta del Este it can expect a little bit of a light wind start, but with some northernly breezes it’s still expected to be an exciting start. Once over the horizon, heading into the Atlantic and the Roaring Forties, the teams will start to see those low pressures, with big, strong, following winds. Hopefully they will get onto the back of low pressure with fast downwind conditions which will get them across the Atlantic Ocean.

“The challenge is that the low pressures will move quite quickly, so the aim is to get onto one and stay on it as long as possible. This will propel them across the ocean.

“Towards the end of the race the fleet will come back up towards South Africa, and as they approach they will witness such an amazing sight. You start thinking that’s a strange looking cloud, and then you realise it’s Table Mountain. You can see it from so far away, and then you get closer, and closer and it really is one of the most spectacular cities to sail into.”