© Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing Team

The IMOCA fleet moves east into the open ocean.

It's 11th Hour Racing Team at the head of the fleet on Monday as the four racing IMOCAs push east into the Atlantic Ocean. 

After being squeezed between two Marine Mammal Exclusion Zones for much of Sunday night, the race course is beginning to open up now.

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For American skipper Charlie Enright, it's a narrow lead on the second day of the double-points leg to Aarhus, Denmark, with Team Malizia and Team Holcim-PRB directly behind. Biotherm has also closed the gap to just under 15 miles after falling behind at the start yesterday. 

© Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing Team

"It's been a nice start. We have the spinnaker up, but the wind is turning to the right so we will have to change to a flatter sail," said Malizia skipper Boris Herrmann Sunday night. "We can see 11th Hour Racing Team over there, so it's all very good. Quite gentle sailing."

"The leaders touched the wind shifting forward first (out of Newport), and we were able to come back a bit. But then we fell into a light spot and they gained, but we are within about a mile of Team Malizia, so it's good," said Kevin Escoffier on Team Holcim-PRB.

Sea conditions could get worse this week as the boats move into a favourable Gulf Stream current that will be pushing against the northerly winds in the forecast. That type of wind against current usually pushes up the sea state dramatically. 

Source : The Ocean Race