Newport, Rhode Island earned its title as one of the great homes of sailing on Sunday, providing beautiful conditions for the start of leg 5 of The Ocean Race.
The sunshine returned with light southwesterly winds and the crowds were out in force, both on land at Fort Adams State Park and at sea, pushing in on the margins of the race course boundaries, and following the fleet as they sailed out of towards the open sea.
Skipper Charlie Enright gave the home crowd something to cheer about early, winning the start by nearly three boat lengths and leading the fleet through the first turning gate, but it wasn't long before Team Malizia closed down the gap on the second leg of the race course and made the pass as the wind faded.
Stormy weather on Saturday had seen the In Port Race postponed to Sunday, and the opening lap of the inshore course for the leg 5 start was scored as the Newport In Port Race.
As the fleet passed through the leaving gate for the final time, it was Team Malizia, just ahead of 11th Hour Racing Team, followed by Team Holcim-PRB and Biotherm (the results are below).
The transatlantic leg to Aarhus, Denmark is a double-points scoring race. With three teams within one point at the top of the leaderboard, leg 5 is shaping up as a very important step towards overall race victory.
