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.
VO65 Sprint Cup Stage 3 start day onboard Austrian Ocean Racing - Team Genova | Credit: Stefan Leitner/Austrian Ocean Racing - Team Genova/The Ocean 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.
