Displaying items by tag: The Ocean Race
Bold Call Pays Small Dividends for Team Holcim-PRB En Route to The Ocean Grand Finale in Genoa
Team Holcim-PRB made a break for the Algerian coast overnight on Friday (23 June), leaving the close-quarters match racing they’d been having with Biotherm and Team Malizia since before Gibraltar.
At one point, they had gained nearly 100 miles of separation to the south — risky business in the light, shifting winds.
But surprisingly, when the boats converged on Saturday morning (24 June) off the Spanish coast, not too much had changed. Although Holcim-PRB had made a net gain of about five or six miles — important when the margins are so thin — it seems like scant reward for taking such a big risk.
By returning to the Spanish coast (not far off The Ocean Race start port of Alicante, fully completing the circumnavigation in the process!) skipper Benjamin Schwartz has consolidated what little gain he’d made and secured a more powerful protective position between Biotherm, Malizia and the finish in Genoa.
But as of Saturday evening that lead is being eroded, with the chasing boats within four (Biotherm) and seven (Malizia) miles respectively.
“We’re heading up the Spanish coast, less than 600 miles to go to the finish now,” said Alan Roberts from on board Biotherm on Saturday morning. “In theory we could do that distance in one day on an IMOCA. More likely it’s going to take us three! It’s not very fast sailing. Quite complex with a few more transitions between now and the finish.
“We’ve got Malizia just a few miles behind and to leeward of us. Team Holcim-PRB is to weather and forward of us. Last night they hitched out to the right pretty hard, sailing quick, and they’ve come back ahead of us, but probably not as far as they should have been…an interesting option from them…”
In the VO65 fleet, WindWhisper Racing Team continues to sail its own race towards the Grand Finale in Genoa, with a nice lead over all of the chasers.
Skipper Daryl Wislang’s team is nearly 175 miles to the east of the rest of the fleet with the Balearic Islands to port, racing in very different conditions to the others. And this is just about the only risk for WindWhisper — in these light, changeable conditions, they have to sail their own race and be confident they can get to Genoa faster.
When they arrive, the Grand Finale is fully prepared to offer some top Italian hospitality. Ocean Live Park in Genoa had a soft opening ceremony on Saturday morning before the official opening on Sunday (25 June).
Rankings at 1900 UTC, 24 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 456.3 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 3.7 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 7 miles to leader
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 352.1 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 132.1 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 136.5 miles to leader
- Viva México, 147.1 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 162.7 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
The Ocean Race: Team Holcim-PRB Leading IMOCAs Into the Med While WindWhisper Roars Towards Genoa
It’s been a profitable 24 hours for Poland’s WindWhisper Racing Team, which has escaped from the rest of the boats racing towards the Grand Finale of The Ocean Race 2022-23 in Genoa and stretched out to a lead of over 150 nautical miles over its nearest pursuers in the VO65 fleet.
In the short term, however, the forecast isn’t in the team’s favour. The wind was expected to ease dramatically in the western Mediterranean over the course of Thursday (22 June) before shifting from the westerly that has pushed them into the Med to an east-northeasterly that they’ll need to fight to make progress toward Italy.
The calm patch will apply to the chasing boats as well, who may need to battle this transition along with unfavourable tidal current in the Strait of Gibraltar depending on their arrival. And a later arrival could mean tacking into a building headwind.
On the approach to Gibraltar, Team Holcim-PRB is leading the IMOCAs, but at 1800 UTC was in danger of losing miles to both Biotherm — just 2.4 nautical miles astern — and Team Malizia.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to catch up to the others,” said Malizia’s Will Harris looking ahead at the transition. “There will be a light wind area and maybe a chance for us to play a card and gain some miles if we find better wind. We’ll see what we find.”
The light and somewhat fickle winds are taking a toll on the crews. On the VO65 Team JAJO, currently battling with Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team and Viva México for second position in the VO65 Sprint, the night showed a loss, in very close-quarters racing.
“It’s been very painful,” admitted JAJO’s Jorden van Rooijen. “On the way to Gibraltar, we’ve been battling Mirpuri/Trifork all night. We had them seven miles behind us and now they just got a little bit of pressure, overtook us, a super-close battle, one boat length apart, and now they’re just in front of us.. So we have to get them back!”
That was before JAJO’s encounter with the one of the area’s now infamous orcas, responsible for a spate of attacks on boats since spring. Thankfully boat and crew — and orca — are unharmed.
Rankings at 1800 UTC, 22 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 854.8 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 2.4 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 14.6 miles to leader
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 706.6 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 145 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 145.8 miles to leader
- Viva México, 146.7 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 157.8 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
WindWhisper Racing Team Leads Both Ocean Race Fleets Towards the Med and Grabs Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation Prize
As skipper Daryl Wislang pushed his WindWhisper Racing Team across the line of 37 degrees north latitude at 1004 UTC on Wednesday morning (21 June), his team prepared to turn east towards the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.
By crossing this 37-degree latitude at the head of both fleets, Wislang’s team wins the Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation Prize, celebrating the heritage of the great navigators of The Ocean Race. In this case, WindWhisper Racing Team navigator Aksel Magdahl will be given the award in Genoa.
While this milestone is in their wake, the team still has over 1,000 nautical miles to run to the finish line and very challenging, light conditions ahead.
However, they have built a nice margin and should be in good shape for the approach to the Mediterranean Sea with the four chasing boats in the VO65 class all at least 117 miles back as of Wednesday evening.
In the IMOCA fleet, Team Holcim-PRB is working hard to hold onto its lead as both Biotherm and Team Malizia keep nibbling at their advantage.
Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm is now within six miles, and Team Malizia has closed up as well, sitting some 40 miles behind.
The IMOCAs, starting behind the VO65s, are just starting to catch the trailing boats in the 65 fleet as the slow conditions haven’t allowed the best performance from these foiling marvels.
“Normally we have some good wind off the coast of Portugal, but now we don’t have wind…only about eight knots,” said Biotherm’s Mariana Lobato, the Portuguese sailor on the boat who was hoping for more exciting conditions off her home coastline. “Hopefully it comes soon so we can make it downwind, and fast, and have some fun!”
“It hasn’t been windy for very much time and now we’re back to the J0, the big headsail, in very light winds,” said Biotherm skipper Paul Meilhat.
“We’re trying to stay in a corridor with the maximum wind we can get,” said Nico Lunven on Team Malizia as his team put in a gybe overnight. “It’s still OK, the spinnaker is still flying… [On Wednesday] we should have more wind close to the shore with the sea breeze effect.”
Despite the light conditions, the Strait of Gibraltar passage is expected on Thursday (22 June) — proof that progress is being made, albeit slower than the teams would like.
Rankings at 1800 UTC, 21 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 1,092.9 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 5.6 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 40.6 miles to leader
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 927.4 miles to finish
- Team JAJO, 117.3 miles to leader
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 119.6 miles to leader
- Viva México, 153.3 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 166.4 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
The Ocean Race Fleets are Easing Their Way South
Nobody will be breaking any records on Tuesday (20 June) in The Ocean Race. Light winds mean speeds are still modest for both IMOCA and VO65 fleets as they slide down to the south along the west coast of the Iberian peninsula.
“It would be nice to be going faster,” said Team Malizia’s Will Harris, as his team has taken advantage of the lighter winds ahead to claw a few miles back on Team Holcim-PRB and Biotherm.
“It’s a long way to Genova. It’s not a leg to be underestimated. I think anything could happen right up to the finish. There will be lots of opportunities to catch up…
“It’s a lot more tactical in these conditions. You still have to sail the boat as fast as possible and remember that everyone is dealing with the same conditions. It’s about how you overcome it.”
In the VO65 fleet, it’s WindWhisper Racing Team who have done some very good work to maintain a lead of 75 miles (as of Tuesday evening) over the next four boats, all of whom are grouped together in a chasing pack separated by just 25 miles.
“Last night was quite difficult. The wind was up and down and left and right, so it was hard work for the crew to keep the speed up,” said Gerwin Jansen from Austrian Ocean Racing - Team Genova. “Today we expect to be sailing close to the Spanish and Portuguese coasts and doing a lot of gybing to stay in the wind.”
The forecast is for the generally light conditions to continue although from a favourable north-northwesterly direction until the boats are through the Strait of Gibraltar on Thursday (22 June).
And on Wednesday (21 June) the first boat is expected pass the Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation latitude — 37 degrees north — earning a prize that will be awarded to the team’s navigator in Genoa.
Rankings at 1800 UTC, 20 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 1,308.6 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 8.1 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 27.5 miles to finish
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 1,184.4 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 75.2 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 78.2 miles to leader
- Viva México, 92.7 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 100.8 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
The VO65s are still leading the charge south, towards Cape Finisterre and the coast of Portugal. But at the moment, ‘charge’ should be considered a generous description.
Boat speeds are often under 10 knots and the choice for the decision-makers on board is bleak — push south into lighter winds, or further west, away from the target.
“It’s looking very quiet, not so much wind…very slow,” was the succint summary from Nico Lunven on Team Maliza.
Elsewhere, Yoann Richomme, leading the navigation duties on the IMOCA furthest to the south — Team Holcim-PRB — offered up a more vivid description, even if the ultimate conclusion is the same.
“We are in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, going west — west! — to get away from some light winds between France and Spain,” he explained on Monday’s (19 June) boat feed. “Then we are going to try to go down south along the coast of Portugal. it will be light this afternoon, then a little bit windier as we turn south to go down but then Portugal looks very, very light.
“Right now we’re slow. It’s not looking good. Biotherm is about 55 miles north but we could lose quite a bit today I reckon. We have a bit of an advantage but I think the next hours and days will be very tricky.”
As Richomme predicted, that hard-won early advantage is now being eroded by both Biotherm and Team Malizia, as both boats are further west and holding onto the light winds a little bit longer.
The story is similar no matter which of the five VO65s or three IMOCAs you are racing on in this final leg of The Ocean Race. It’s a challenge to pick a route south that has enough wind to keep the boat moving consistently. Today, gambling on a spot further west seems to be paying.
“We chose to go quite far west to chase the remains of a low-pressure system,” said Aksel Magdahl, navigator on WindWhisper Racing Team, the leading team in the VO65 Sprint. “Fortunately, the fleet has more or less followed us which makes it more straighforward.”
As the boats press further south, they will eventually come to the southwestern tip of Portugal before making a left turn and heading towards Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.
Extending off the tip of Portugal, along 37 degrees of north latitude, is the scoring line for the Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation Prize which will be awarded to the first navigator in either class to cross this latitude. No scoring points are assigned here, but a prize will be presented in Genoa during the Grand Finale awards night.
Meanwhile, 11th Hour Racing Team is making good progress on its ‘race within a race’ to Genoa. After leaving The Hague on Sunday evening, the team is determined to arrive to Italy in time to participate in the In-Port Race.
“We are very tight on time but we will do everything we can to get to Genova to join the rest of the fleet for the Grand Finale of The Ocean Race,” said skipper Charlie Enright as his team left the dock on Sunday (18 June).
“We want to be there in time for the start of the In-Port Race on July 1, to give us the opportunity to compete in, and win, the In-Port Race Series. It’s a race within a race, and the countdown is now on.”
Rankings at 1600 UTC, 19 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 1,600.8 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 31.8 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 49.3 miles to finish
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 1,453.1 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 68.3 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 70.1 miles to leader
- Viva México, 87.3 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 69.7 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
The Ocean Race: Final Leg Opens Up as Fleets Begin to Spread Out Crossing Bay of Biscay
Both the IMOCA and VO65 fleets in The Ocean Race are finally free of the English Channel and into the more open waters of the Bay of Biscay/Celtic Sea/North Atlantic on Sunday (18 June).
The mission now is to leave the Bay of Biscay to port and run down the west coasts of Spain and Portugal before turning into the Mediterranean.
After a couple of days of very light winds, Sunday morning (18 June) brought a light to moderate breeze — but it was a south-southwesterly, which is generally the direction of travel, meaning choices would need to be made. Further west there is likely to be more wind, but it comes at a cost of extra miles. This tactical choice over the next 24-48 hours will be one to watch.
“We lost a bit on Biotherm overnight, but still have a good lead at the moment…so far, so good,” said Benjamin Schwartz on IMOCA fleet leader Team Holcim-PRB. His team dropped just over 10 miles in the early hours of Sunday, but have managed to stabilise now and are set up directly west of Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm team, and nearly 50 miles ahead of Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia.
The VO65 fleet has pushed further west than the IMOCAs, especially the leader WindWhisper Racing Team which is earlier this morning was over 70 miles west of second-placed Mirpuri-Trifork and Team JAJO in third.
The challenge for WindWhisper skipper Daryl Wislang is to determine when there is enough west in the wind direction for them to tack and start making miles south. That time came at 0900 UTC and as of Sunday afternoon the team is making miles towards the goal.
“It’s definitely been a tricky time with very, very light winds,” confirmed Viva Mexico skipper Erik Brockmann, where his team is in a pack of four VO65s chasing the leader.
“The last days have seemed more like the doldrums with a little bit of everything mixed in. Now we finally have some breeze and have sailed all night and I think we are finally getting into the southerlies we have been expecting. Only WindWhisper has been able to get into the wind first [and get away] but we can see the others, so it should be a fun day today.”
Meanwhile, the two teams that returned to The Hague after the dramatic collision that marred the start of Leg 7 for the IMOCA fleet have given updates on their current status.
On Sunday morning, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe confirmed they would not be able to repair their boat in time to get to Genoa for the Grand Finale. Instead, the team has effected a temporary repair (no bowsprit) and will limp towards their home port of Les Sable d’Olonne where full repairs can be made.
“We wanted to finish this race and we put all our power towards that, but we try to go to Genova like this — no bowsprit, no downwind sails — we will arrive well after the stopover,” said skipper Benjamin Dutreux.
“We have spent the past six months with all the other teams. We have that link together now. There is no way we will miss the arrival of the boats in Genova. All of our team will be in Genova to welcome the boats. Whether our boat is there or not there changes nothing. This is a human story and we want to be there to share that with them.”
Dutreux repeated his regret for the incident and its impact on 11th Hour Racing Team and The Ocean Race.
Still in The Hague, Charlie Enright’s team is continuing to work around the clock on repairs to its boat with the goal of getting to Genoa for the Grand Finale.
“The time, the effort, the craftsmanship, the dedication is unbelievable,” Enright said dockside on Saturday afternoon (17 June) as he looked at the work happening on the boat. “I feel so lucky to have this level of dedication to the cause. When you get into situations like this you find out what you’re made of and I’m so proud of what we’ve seen so far.”
The team is expected to update on its plans to get to the Grand Finale in Genoa over the next 24 hours. Additionally, more information about the schedule for 11th Hour Racing Team’s Request for Redress with the World Sailing International Jury will be shared when it is available.
Rankings at 1400 UTC, 18 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 1,693.9 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 20.3 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 45.3 miles to finish
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 1,641.3 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 46.3 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 52.2 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 59.9 miles to leader
- Viva México, 61.1 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
The five VO65s and three IMOCA boats racing to The Ocean Race Grand Finale in Genoa are battling light and challenging conditions as they work to exit the English Channel and begin the next phase of the race, in more open waters.
At 1000 UTC on Saturday morning (17 June), the VO65 fleet was tight and compressed together, approximately 50 miles west of the leading IMOCA, Team Holcim-PRB.
Team JAJO was nominally in the lead, over Mirpuri-Trifork Racing Team and WindWhisper, but in reality — with boat speeds below four knots — it was all about who would get the next puff wind, the next eddy of favourable current. That would prove to be WindWhisper, which as of Saturday evening is more than 30 miles ahead of the rest.
“It’s really light, it’s the first big transition of the race,” said Max Deckers on Team JAJO. “We’re expecting wind from the west at some point, but until then it’s just about using anything we get — looking for wind. That’s the main thing.”
The IMOCA teams are facing the same situation. They’ve set up slightly further east and south, Benjamin Schwartz and his crew on Team Holcim-PRB extending away from Biotherm (17 miles) and Team Malizia (36 miles).
“We have to find a way through these light winds in the English Channel to the Bay of Biscay,” said Malizia’s Will Harris.
But it’s tough, slow sailing. “We are waiting for some good wind,” was the lament from Marie Riou on board Biotherm.
And the forecast doesn’t offer much respite. Light to (at best) moderate south-southwesterlies are ahead, but this would also mean upwind sailing through the Bay of Biscay, which won’t be fast in terms of making miles toward the goal.
Perhaps it is good practice for the Mediterranean days ahead.
Rankings at 1800 UTC, 17 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 1,805.1 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 17.1 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 36.1 miles to finish
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 1,787.5 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 36.6 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 339.2 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 40.3 miles to leader
- Viva México, 46.9 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
Racing to The Ocean Race Grand Finale in Genoa Continues Despite Drama and Shock of Collision
All five VO65s left The Hague in full racing trim on Thursday afternoon (15 June), heading into Stage 3 of the VO65 Sprint Cup. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the IMOCA fleet, where a dramatic collision has left just three boats still on the course and racing towards Genoa.
One boat has retired from the leg after assuming responsibility for the accident, while the race-leading 11th Hour Racing Team is dockside in The Hague after working through the night to determine the extent of the damage, begin repairs and assess options for a return.
The incident itself was the type of accident that regrettably happens on rare occasions in racing. But it is a shock to see it here, in conditions of daylight and good visibility and on an uncrowded race course.
After 11th Hour Racing Team tacked on the layline for the next turning mark and established itself as the stand on ‘right of way’ boat, the crew on GUYOT environnement - Team Europe, required to give way in this situation, apparently didn’t see the other boat until it was too late. The resulting collision caused enough damage to send both boats back to port.
“I was helming and I just saw their boat appear suddenly and it was too late,” lamented Ben Dutreux, the skipper of the GUYOT boat. “The contact was unavoidable [at that point]. I take full responsibility. It is our fault.”
In acknowledging fault, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe has retired from Leg 7 of the race, a disappointing turn of events for a team that had proved resilient in coming back from an earlier dismasting.
For 11th Hour Racing Team, the damage from the collision is a big X factor the team now has to deal with. With his team currently at the head of the leaderboard and riding a wave of three consecutive leg victories, skipper Charlie Enright had been looking forward to a hard-fought race into Genoa that, given the right result, would see them winning The Ocean Race by beating their nearest competitor, Team Holcim-PRB, on the water. Now, through no fault of their own, the story takes a different turn.
“The most important thing is that everyone on their boat and on our boat is okay,” Enright said on the dock, not long after the collision. “Where we go from here is uncertain at this stage. It’s life, it’s racing. There is nothing we would have done differently and accidents happen.
“This race has a way of testing people in different ways, physically and mentally, and this is a test for our team. But there is no team I would rather be on, that I would rather have with me. If anyone can figure this out, it is us, I genuinely believe that; we will just have to see what that process looks like as we get more information.”
In a team statement on Friday (16 June), Enright confirmed the bad news — the team has withdrawn from Leg 7.
“We are working around the clock to repair the boat as quickly as possible, and our intent is to sail to Genova to rejoin the fleet and complete this lap around our blue planet,” he said. “Everyone is obviously devastated — no one wants to finish a race like this — but spirits are high within the team, and everyone is focused on finishing this incredible race on a high note.”
The team has also officially filed a Request for Redress. Retiring from the leg and filing for redress gives the team the best chance, within the rules of the event, to secure the points it needs to win the overall race.
While this incident overshadowed the Leg 7 start, there are still three boats racing towards Genova in the IMOCA class, including Team Holcim-PRB who showed an impressive burst of speed off the starting line to build a lead over 11th Hour Racing Team and GUYOT envrionnement before the fateful collision.
Skipper Benjamin Schwartz pushed his boat and crew hard and they would go on to lead Team Malizia and Biotherm out of The Hague starting area towards the North Sea. As the three boats worked through the exclusion zones and into the English Channel, racing remained extremely close. As of Friday afternoon UTC (16 June) the trio are within eight nautical miles on the race tracker leaderboard, with Team Holcim-PRB holding a modest advantage.
Earlier on Thursday, it was the VO65 fleet with the first start of the day, their racing getting underway just after 1300 local time, under mostly sunny skies and in a nine-12 knot northerly breeze.
After pleasing the home fans with a win in the In-Port Race, the local heroes on the Dutch-flagged Team JAJO once again led the way on Thursday, making an early pass on the first downwind leg and extending away to lead the fleet through the departure gate and away from The Hague.
“This has been super nice,” said Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek from on board as the boat passed through the final starting gate. “It’s great to have so many people out on the water supporting us. It keeps amazing me. And we’re in first place so a good start for us on the race to Genova.”
Just behind JAJO was WindWhisper Racing Team, the overall leader in the VO65 flee, the team JAJO has to beat to Genoa to have a chance at the title — and as of Friday afternoon, the team in the lead as the front-runners approach the Channel Islands. Austrian Ocean Racing/Genova, Mirpuri-Trifork Racing and Viva Mexico were all lined up behind the leaders as they sailed downwind from The Hague and they remain in contention, with only 20 miles separating the fleet.
Rankings at 1700 UTC, 16 June
IMOCA:
- Team Holcim-PRB, 1,935.9 miles to finish
- Biotherm, 2.6 miles to leader
- Team Malizia, 7.5 miles to finish
VO65 :
- WindWhisper Racing, 1,902 miles to finish
- Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, 1.6 miles to leader
- Team JAJO, 9.1 miles to leader
- Viva México, 13.1 miles to leader
- Austrian Ocean Race - Team Genova, 20.4 miles to leader
Follow both fleets’ progress via the race tracker at theoceanrace.com.
Meanwhile, sailors in both fleets in The Ocean Race 2022-23 are preparing for a challenging Leg 7 towards the Grand Finale in Genoa, Italy.
For the IMOCA fleet that has raced around the world, this ultimate leg of the race is decisive — the winner will be crowned in Genoa.
Skipper Charlie Enright and his 11th Hour Racing Team have put themselves in a strong position with three consecutive leg wins to build a two-point lead over Team Holcim-PRB.
As the American team also holds the advantage in the tie-breaking In-Port Race Series, the only way for skipper Benjamin Schwartz’s Holcim-PRB team to overcome the deficit is to finish three points clear ahead on this final stage.
“It’s not only up to us to win this leg, we have to finish in front of 11th Hour Racing Team, either in first or second, and then they have to be fourth or fifth — those are the only only options,” Schwartz said at the skippers’ press conference on Wednesday (14 June). “So we’re going to try to win this leg, and then we’ll need a bit of help from the other teams if we are going to win The Ocean Race.”
For Enright, the task is clear: “We’ve sailed a lot of miles around the world already, but there’s 2,000 very, very, very complex miles left to go,” he said. “We’ve just had our weather briefing and this is shaping up to be like an extended version of the last leg, which was the most complex one that we’ve done to date.
“It’s tricky and the points are close. We’ll still try to sail aggressively, but also stay humble. We recognise where we are, what the situation is, so we’re looking forward to the next leg, and I’m sure it’s gonna come right down to the end, because it always seems to do that.”
Things are slightly easier at the head of the VO65 Sprint fleet, where Poland’s WindWhisper Racing Team has won the opening two stages of the competition. However, by earning second- and third-place finishes, Team JAJO remains within striking distance.
“I think it’s not going to be over until we cross the finish line in Genova,” was the cautious take from Pablo Arrarte, the WindWhisper skipper. “Anything can happen — you can break the boat or you can have other issues. So we’ll approach this stage the same way as the others. We will do our best, sail the boat as fast as possible, and we will work very hard until the finish.”
Gerwin Jansen is leading Austrian Ocean Racing - powered by Team Genova on a race to the team’s home port, so motivation is high.
“Obviously, there’s quite a lot of pressure on us because we’re sailing to our home port, and expectations are high in Genova, but we like the challenge,” Jansen said. “It’s a very long, complicated leg, so I think the key is to stay fresh, and then the plan is to keep close through Gibraltar and then overtake all of them in the Mediterranean.”
Sailors in both fleets spoke about the complexity of the race to the Grand Finale in Genoa. The start will take the teams into a North Sea crowded with shipping, wind farms and challenging currents, before the Bay of Biscay and race to Gibraltar offers a more traditional ‘offshore’ style of racing.
But then comes the Mediterranean and the final third of the leg racing through early summer conditions on a body of water that can throw any and all kinds of weather at the fleet.
With all this, it’s shaping up to be a fantastic push to the Grand Finale in Genoa with the results open in both the VO65 and IMOCA fleets.
Racing starts on Thursday afternoon 15 June at 13:10 local time (CEST) for the VO65 class and at 18:15 for the IMOCA fleet.
The local heroes on the Dutch-flagged Team JAJO made a statement of intent right from the start of the VO65 In-Port Race in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon (14 June) by crossing ahead of the entire fleet on port tack — a high-risk, high-reward manoeuvre that allowed them to build a solid lead at the first turning gate.
Behind them, the overall race leader WindWhisper Racing Team rounded in second place with Viva México following. But the Mexican team elected to race the downwind leg with a masthead code zero sail, which didn’t pay off, and allowed Mirpuri/Trifork to make a pass.
On the second lap of the course, WindWhisper skipper Pablo Arrarte worked every shift to split away from Jelmer van Beek’s Team JAJO to try and get a sniff of the lead. But the JAJO team protected well and even extended to earn a wire-to-wire win in front of a delirious home crowd.
“This is so nice,” said van Beek, overcome with emotion after the finish. “The team worked so hard and we got it! We got it in our hometown! I never expected this. I’m so happy.“”
Arrarte’s WindWhisper crew sailed a solid race for second place, holding off Mirpuri-Trifork Racing in third.
“This kind of windward-leeward race course is intense with a lot of manoeuvres but we sailed well and second place is great,” Arrarte said. “It was a good race and I’m happy with the result.”
“We were fourth over the starting line and we managed to overtake the Mexican team and even got close to WindWhisper, so it was an exciting race,” said ‘Chuny’ Bermudez from the Mirpuri-Trifork team. “But big kudos to Team JAJO, they made a great start and stayed ahead.”
There was also action at the back of the fleet, as the crew on Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova engineered a late comeback, passing Team México just before the finishing line to grab fourth place.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Benjamin Dutreux and his crew on GUYOT environnement - Team Europe sailed a flawless race in challenging conditions to earn their first win of The Ocean Race. Afloat.ie has more on the story HERE.
VO65 class - In Port-Race - The Hague
- Team JAJO - 6 points
- WindWhisper Racing Team - 5 points
- Mirpuri-Trifork Racing - 4 points
- Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova - 3 points
- Viva México - 2 points
- Ambersail 2 - DNS - 0 points