At 1541 UTC on Thursday, May 25, while racing in Leg 5 of The Ocean Race, 11th Hour Racing Team activated its Hazard Button to alert Race Control and the wider fleet they had hit something, suspected to be a marine mammal or megafauna.

The Team was in the mid-North Atlantic Ocean at 52°N, 35°W - approximately 750 nautical miles [863 miles/1,389 km] off the coast of Newfoundland, sailing at 29 knots [33mph/54 kmph], in 28+ knots [32 mph/52 kmph] of wind speed - some of the fastest conditions yet seen in the race.

The impact was sudden, and the crew onboard were thrown forward, causing two injuries onboard. Trimmer Charlie Dalin (FRA) has a suspected mild concussion, and Media Crew Member Amory Ross (USA) has injured his shoulder. The Race’s on-call Doctor - Dr. Spike Briggs - has spoken to the sailors onboard the boat by satellite phone. Dr. Briggs has prescribed painkillers, bunk rest, and plenty of water to hydrate, and is monitoring the situation closely. The two sailors are reported to be comfortable, and their next of kin have been informed.

The crew are all very shaken by the incident and will follow best practices, reporting the suspected strike to the International Whaling Commission.

After the incident, the crew slowed the boat down to conduct checks: as far as they can visually assess, the boat has no damage.

The three other sailors onboard are all uninjured. Skipper Charlie Enright (USA), Navigator Simon Fisher (GBR), and Trimmer Justine Mettraux (SUI) - will continue to race the boat towards their final destination - Aarhus, Denmark.

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.

Once on the ground, the foils on the 11th Hour Racing Team's Ocean Race Mālama were removed from the boat and have undergone surface Non-Destructive Testing. These non-invasive techniques determine the integrity of the structure of a boat and its appendages, and can be used to discover issues without causing any damage to the structure.

The survey found serious damage to both foils, and after consultation with the yacht's design team, the advice given is that the foils will require extensive repair before going back into service. This work cannot be completed onsite in Cape Town before the boats leave on Sunday, February 26, for Leg 3 of The Ocean Race.

The consensus is it would be unsafe to venture further in the race with this set of foils, particularly with the next leg being a five-week-long marathon through the Southern Ocean.

The team has formally requested permission from the Race Committee to replace the foils onboard Mālama, so they can continue to compete in a safe and seaworthy manner.

Race Committee receives request from 11th Hour Racing Team to replace foils

The Race Committee of The Ocean Race received a request to replace foils for Leg 3 from 11th Hour Racing Team at 0900 UTC on 16th February.

The Race Committee is currently reviewing the technical reports supplied with the request.

The Rules of The Ocean Race (Notice of Race 6.4) specify teams are only allowed to use one set of foils in The Ocean Race. However, a team may apply for permission to replace a foil that "suffers serious damage that cannot be repaired before a Leg start".

Team Malizia is ready to race: today, Boris Herrmann’s sailing team kicks off their busy race calendar for the upcoming years by participating in the Défi Azimut 2022, their first race with their new Malizia - Seaexplorer race yacht. This year, the international team has grown its sailing crew, launched their new race machine on 19 July and christened their boat in Boris Herrmann’s hometown Hamburg only a week ago, during the Malizia Ocean Festival to which over 12,000 visitors attended.

The race yacht, carrying the striking United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on its sails, was delivered back by the team from the Hanseatic city to Brittany just in time to take part in its first IMOCA race this week.

The Défi Azimut - Lorient Agglomération is an event taking place off the coast of Lorient, Brittany, over the course of six days (13 to 18 September).

The event includes speed runs and races, and is part of the IMOCA GLOBE SERIES 2021-25 Championship. An impressively large fleet will compete in this 12th edition: 30 IMOCAs will be on the starting line. This comes as no surprise as the Défi Azimut is the last match between boats of the IMOCA class before the Route du Rhum 2022 and The Ocean Race 2023. All the IMOCA race yachts competing in the round-the-world race next year are also participating in this week’s event.

Malizia - Seaexplorer will take part in Wednesday’s speed runs, hosting guests to experience sailing on the new boat for the first time. During the 48-hour Azimut on Thursday, Team Malizia will sail a looped circuit in the Atlantic in The Ocean Race crew mode, with Boris Herrmann (41, German) as Skipper, Will Harris (28, English), Rosalin Kuiper (27, Dutch) and Nico Lunven (39, French) as Co-Skippers and Antoine Auriol (37, French-German) as Onboard Reporter. The race tracker will be available on the team’s and the competition’s websites for anyone to follow live. The images Antoine Auriol will capture will also be shared for everyone to feel as if they were sailing onboard Malizia - Seaexplorer. The week will conclude a tour of the Île de Groix on Sunday.

The Défi Azimut is the last crewed competition before The Ocean Race, starting on 15 January 2023 in Alicante, Spain. Until then, the team will practice in crew configuration during training sessions, such as those at Port La Forêt, and during deliveries, like the return from Guadeloupe after the Route du Rhum at the end of November.

Team Malizia is joined in its effort to be one of the most exciting sailing teams and a champion for sustainability and climate action by seven main partners: EFG International, Zurich Group Germany, Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd, Schütz and The Yacht Club de Monaco.

There is no greater community to understand the changes in the oceans and what needs to be done to protect them than sailors.

From those like myself, a leisure sailor, to fishermen, to marine scientists, to the professional seafarers, greater awareness comes from being on the water and gives mariners, in the widest sense of the word, more understanding than those who are shore-based.

So the decision of the Ocean Race, which I once sailed in when it was called the Whitbread Round the World, “to collaborate with the United Nations to help support its ‘Clean Seas’ campaign” brings professional racing sailors to the forefront as ‘ocean people’ tackling the growing problem of marine litter.

Relating land to sea - One Blue Ocean

I learned a lot racing across the Atlantic on NCB Ireland, an 18-day passage in 1990 when the world’s oceans were in a different state to what they are now. It helped form my own views about the ocean environment. The partnership by the Volvo Ocean Race with the UN is to use the sailing platform to help ‘Turn the Tide on Plastics’ littering the marine environment.

A marine biologist from Kerry is one of those leading the project, creating ’One Blue Voice’. Lucy Hunt founded the Sea Synergy Marine Awareness & Activity Centre at Waterville eight years ago. She is a Senior Advisor at The Ocean Race and says the oceans should be given rights.

The Ocean Race 

“Halt the decline of the seas and protect the future of life on earth by recognising the ocean’s rights,” is the approach of the ‘One Blue Voice’ campaign.

As the Race yachts cross the globe they will gather support and carry petition signatures to present to the United Nations General Assembly in September of next year when the environment of the oceans will be a major topic.

Lucy Hunt is my Podcast guest. Listen below

The ‘OneBlue Voice’ petition can be signed at: www.onebluevoice.net

The CORUM L'Épargne Sailing Team, led by skipper Nicolas Troussel, has confirmed it will take part in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe this spring, with its new generation IMOCA.

“The Ocean Race Europe is a compelling new challenge for us to take on,” said skipper Nicolas Troussel. “As a fully-crewed race from the Atlantic coast of France into the Mediterranean Sea with several stops it has an interesting race route. It will be a new style of racing for us, and fits our calendar well as we develop our season of racing this year.”

As regular Afloat readers will recall, Troussel made Ireland a destination in 2018 when, together with Mini Transat Winner Ian Lipinski, the duo teamed up to race the Mach 40 'Corum' in the Round Ireland Race, winning the start in great style off Wicklow Head.

The Ocean Race Europe is a new event, created by the organisers of The Ocean Race as part of a 10-year programme of racing through 2031. The European event will run every four years (2021, 2025, 2029), in the gaps between the around the world editions of The Ocean Race (2022-23, 2026-27, 2030-31), to provide a continuous racing programme.

This inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe will see two fleets in action - the technology-driven IMOCA class and the one-design VO65s. The race course will see several point-scoring legs between iconic European cities, with the route to be confirmed soon.

"The race course will see several point-scoring legs between iconic European cities, with the route to be confirmed soon"

“Having Nicolas Troussel and his CORUM L'Épargne Sailing Team confirm they will be on the start line of The Ocean Race Europe immediately raises the bar in the IMOCA fleet,” said Race Director Phil Lawrence. “We anticipate strong turnout in both classes, with the top names in our sport competing.”

Nicolas Troussel is a double-winner in the prestigious Solitaire du Figaro and has numerous championships and podiums in all of the major offshore races to his credit. His CORUM L'Épargne IMOCA is among the new generation of boats pushing foiling technology to the limit.

“It will be interesting to have the boat racing in a fully-crewed configuration,” Troussel said. “This is something we are still learning - how to reach the full potential of the boat, what is the best set-up - so The Ocean Race Europe will be a good test for our team to compete with other similar boats and a great opportunity to get racing in our IMOCA again.”

In November 2020 in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, Germany’s most successful modern-day offshore sailor Boris Herrmann will start the legendary Vendée Globe, the famous solo non-stop race around the world. Since 1989's very first ever edition of sailing's pinnacle solo race no German sailor has made it to the start line, far less the finish line, some 22,500 miles and 75 or 80 days later in Les Sables d’Olonne. But the 38-year-old from Hamburg has his sights set further than just the solo race which promises to the be one of the most competitive editions yet. Just one year later Herrmann is looking to be on the start line of The Ocean Race with a young German-flagged international team, set to take on this pinnacle fully crewed race round the world that was previously known as the Volvo Ocean Race and before that the Whitbread Round the World Race.

Since 1989's very first ever edition of sailing's pinnacle solo race no German sailor has made it to the start line

Herrmann has just registered with the organisers of The Ocean Race, formally signalling his intention to take on the multi-stage race on the highly optimized, cutting edge 60 foot, 18 metre foiling IMOCA Open 60 yacht “Malizia” on which he will compete among a capacity 30 strong field for the Vendée Globe.

“I have known The Volvo Ocean Race and before that the Whitbread Race since I was very young, and it has always held a massive appeal to me. Now it has been transformed to become ‘The Ocean Race’ and it is to be sailed in the same class of IMOCA high performance ocean racing yachts. As such it with a German-flagged team racing over nine months or so with stopovers in key cities around the world we see it holding a great commercial appeal to companies like our German automotive partner BMW as well,” says Herrmann, who has played a key role on the Executive Committee of the IMOCA class for the past two years helping drive the transition to the Open60 boats which will now be utilized in both pinnacle round the world events, the Vendée Globe and the Ocean Race in the future.

“It’s fantastic to have Herrmann and his team with us”

Executive Director of The Ocean Race Richard Mason is delighted to have Herrmann and Team Malizia sign up to the race. “It is fantastic to welcome Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia as they take the first steps towards competing in the 2021-22 edition of The Ocean Race. By joining our registered teams, Team Malizia has access to the supportive resources of The Ocean Race as they prepare their campaign. Germany has an impressive history in the Volvo Ocean Race with illbruck Challenge winning the 2001-02 edition. In looking to take on the Vendée Globe and the The Ocean Race in successive editions, Boris really is extending that legacy. And it is great that he and the team are such passionate advocates for ocean health and sustainability which are a big focus area for The Ocean Race as we shape the event for the future.”

Yacht Club de Monaco Secures Vendée Globe

During the four-year preparation for the Vendée Globe Herrmann is supported by the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM). His sailing friend Pierre Casiraghi, eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, is the YCM Vice President and founded the team. Compared to other top campaigns their budget is relatively modest, but they already hold second place in the Globe Series the IMOCA world ranking. The long-term support from the YCM is guaranteed but Team Malizia are looking for a strong partner from the business world who will participate in all the upcoming team’s challenges from now on. With numerous stopovers The Ocean Race offers companies with a global operation access to unique hospitality opportunities and a widescale visibility for their brands in the most important markets.

Boris Herrmann not only promotes sustainability with the Malizia Ocean Challenge but is also the representative of the IMOCA class on the subject. He assists on the coordination with The Ocean Race, as all their yachts are to be equipped with an identical deep-sea laboratory, as the “Malizia” has been carrying on board since last summer.

Team Sanya, the Irish–Chinese entry in the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race, took a third place podium position in the Volvo Ocean Race qualifying race in Alicante Spain, behind Team Telefonica in first place and Puma Ocean Race Team in second place.

This qualifier race, which will not see any points awarded, was intended to act as a 'dry run' for the teams and Volvo Ocean Race organization to test safety procedures ahead of the 39,000 nautical mile Volvo Ocean Race, which starts with the Alicante in-port race on October 29th.

The teams experienced the full range of conditions on this short 350 mile trip, from light winds to start with, thunderstorms and 30 knot gusts during the night, to near total becalming towards the end of the race.

Team Sanya, navigated by Aksel Magdahl, took the southerly route around Ibiza on the return leg back to Alicante and was rewarded the best of the breeze, along with Telefonica and Puma. Camper, Groupama and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing opted for the northern route and suffered from the lack of wind, dropping back despite all of them having been in the lead of the race at some stage.

Telefonica, skippered by Olympic Gold medalist Iker Martinez, crossed the line at 05.45.24 UTC, Puma at 06.48.54 UTC and Team Sanya at 09.15, Camper and Groupama are yet to finish as we issue this report.

Cameron Dunn, Watch Captain on Team Sanya, commented on the highs and lows of this qualifier race,
"We are very pleased with this result, it was a tough and long race with not much sleep for any of us. We made a few errors tactically to start with and then got a few calls right later on but that's all part of the learning curve. It was strange to race without Mike (Sanderson) on board but actually very good for the team and we learnt a lot – we probably made a few more mistakes that we would have made if he had been there, but that's all part of the experience. A good result for Team Sanya."

Aksel Magdahl, Navigator on Team Sanya, explained the tactical challenges as a navigator during the race,
"There was certainly plenty of action and we had every type of condition thrown at us, just like a mini Volvo leg all in 36 hours! We had to make a call on which side to pass the Island of Ibiza and lost out on the way up, initially we gained but then we lost out. We then had a big thunderstorm, massive 30 knot squall and huge shifts so we had a bit of sorting out to do after that, but got going again. The choice to go south of Ibiza on the way back was the right one for sure, we could see the boats to the North parked up and headed south to benefit from better breeze. It was a great experience to do this race, good to shift from practice to race mode."

Finally, Tiger (Teng Jiang He) Grinder/Trimmer, added his views on this qualifier race,
" A very tough race with little sleep. We started with an upwind leg where we must have done around 100 tacks so it was tiring, we had some losses but then overtook Groupama and pushed on forward. The windy night challenged us again with a lot of action on board and finally we finished in no wind. Very exciting and great to be racing."

The Team Sanya race boat is lifted out of the water today, for four days of official measurement ashore.