Slow progress for The Ocean Race

(June 19, 2023; Day 5) – The Ocean Race is being led by the VO65s that lead the charge south, towards Cape Finisterre and the coast of Portugal. However, 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 succinct summary from Nico Lunven on Team Malizia.

While 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 said. “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.”

The story is similar no matter which of the five VO65s or three IMOCAs you are racing on. 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 straightforward.”

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 Genova during the Grand Finale awards night.

Meanwhile, 11th Hour Racing Team is making good progress on its ‘race within a race’ to Genova. After leaving The Hague yesterday 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. “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.”

IMOCA – Leg 7 Rankings at 19:00 UTC
1. Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 1577.1 nm
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 28.7 nm
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 45.1 nm
Retired – 11th Hour Racing Team
Retired – GUYOT environnement

VO65 – Leg 7 Rankings at 19:00 UTC
1. WindWhisper Racing Team, distance to finish, 1414.0 nm
2. Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, distance to lead, 68.2 nm
3. Team JAJO, distance to lead, 71.5 nm
4. Viva México, distance to lead, 92.2 nm
5. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova, distance to lead, 97.6 nm
Retired – Ambersail 2

Race details – Route – Tracker – Scoreboard – Content from the boats – YouTube

IMOCA Overall Leaderboard (after 6 of 7 legs)
1. 11th Hour Racing Team — 33 points
2. Team Holcim-PRB — 31 points
3. Team Malizia — 27 points
4. Biotherm — 19 points
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe — 2 points

VO65 Overall Leaderboard (after 2 of 3 legs):
1. WindWhisper Racing Team — 12 points
2. Team JAJO — 9 points
3. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova — 7 points
4. Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team — 5 points
5. Viva México — 4 points
6. Ambersail 2 — 3 points

IMOCA: Name, Design, Skipper, Launch date
• Guyot Environnement – Team Europe (VPLP Verdier); Benjamin Dutreux (FRA)/Robert Stanjek (GER); September 1, 2015
• 11th Hour Racing Team (Guillaume Verdier); Charlie Enright (USA); August 24, 2021
• Holcim-PRB (Guillaume Verdier); Kevin Escoffier (FRA); May 8, 2022
• Team Malizia (VPLP); Boris Herrmann (GER); July 19, 2022
• Biotherm (Guillaume Verdier); Paul Meilhat (FRA); August 31 2022

The Ocean Race 2022-23 Race Schedule:
Alicante, Spain – Leg 1 (1900 nm) start: January 15, 2023
Cabo Verde – ETA: January 22; Leg 2 (4600 nm) start: January 25
Cape Town, South Africa – ETA: February 9; Leg 3 (12750 nm) start: February 26
Itajaí, Brazil – ETA: April 1; Leg 4 (5500 nm) start: April 23
Newport, RI, USA – ETA: May 10; Leg 5 (3500 nm) start: May 21
Aarhus, Denmark – ETA: May 30; Leg 6 (800 nm) start: June 8
Kiel, Germany (Fly-By) – June 9
The Hague, The Netherlands – ETA: June 11; Leg 7 (2200 nm) start: June 15
Genova, Italy – The Grand Finale – ETA: June 25, 2023; Final In-Port Race: July 1, 2023

The Ocean Race (formerly Volvo Ocean Race and Whitbread Round the World Race) was initially to be raced in two classes of boats: the high-performance, foiling, IMOCA 60 class and the one-design VO65 class which has been used for the last two editions of the race.

However, only the IMOCAs will be racing round the world while the VO65s will race in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint which competes in Legs 1, 6, and 7 of The Ocean Race course.

Additionally, The Ocean Race also features the In-Port Series with races at seven of the course’s stopover cities around the world which allow local fans to get up close and personal to the teams as they battle it out around a short inshore course.

Although in-port races do not count towards a team’s overall points score, they do play an important part in the overall rankings as the In-Port Race Series standings are used to break any points ties that occur during the race around the world.

Held every three or four years since 1973, the 14th edition of The Ocean Race was originally planned for 2021-22 but was postponed one year due to the pandemic, with the first leg starting on January 15, 2023.

Source: TOR