Alvimedica: Coming (back) to America

Itajai, Brazil (April 17, 2015) – A young and inexperienced Team Alvimedica sailed out of Newport, RI, last July in a Transatlantic training run to Europe to prepare for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. Ten months later, skipper Charlie Enright, 30, of Bristol, RI, and his crew have logged more than 40,000 ocean miles and now have their sights set on winning the 5,000-mile leg to their homeport.

While the team is driven to win, there is nothing like family and friends waiting on the finish line to further motivate the young Americans to finish first into this storied sailing capital.

“Sailing into our homeport with friends and family is a dream come true and I couldn’t ask for more,” said Enright. “If there ever were a leg where we could get some extra motivation and hit that next gear, it’s certainly this one. Coming into Newport will be special for a lot of reasons. It is where the journey began so many years ago just learning to sail on Narragansett Bay.”

Enright is joined onboard by fellow Rhode Islander Nick Dana, 29, of Newport who is the boat captain and bowman. The team’s Onboard Reporter is Amory Ross, 30, of Newport. Team co-founder and watch captain is Mark Towill, 26, of Kanehoe, HI, who after his years at Brown University with Enright, calls Rhode Island his second home.

Sentimental reasons aside, it is the taste of victory that will have Enright and crew pushing the limits to Newport. Team Alvimedica has been steadily improving since the race started in Alicante, Spain in October including leading the fleet at the treacherous Cape Horn enroute to Brazil. While no points were awarded for that milestone, combined with a podium finish in Itajai, the young crew is feeling confident as they prepare to start Leg 6 on Sunday, April 19.

“We are due for a good result and I can’t think of a better leg to post it on,” Enright said. “No matter how complicated or straightforward these legs seem to be, the boats always tend to end up together – the competition is excruciatingly close and another leg crossing the Equator with tricky trades and doldrums, we have the Brazil Current, the Bermuda High, the Gulf Stream – a ton of different elements. I expect it to be tight, just as complicated as the rest of the legs. We will need to stay close and make some pretty good decisions towards the end.”

While in some ways the return to Newport completes an around-the-world passage, there are many points still at stake, says Mark Towill. “Only half the points in the race have been awarded. But it’s more like a halftime really there are still a lot of points left on the table and the legs aren’t weighted so a long way to go – we look forward to posting our best results on the second half of this race.”
Photo credit:Daniel Forster, Team Alvimedica

Team Alvimedica race crew for Leg 6: Alberto Bolzan, 32, (ITA); Nick Dana, 29, (Newport, RI, USA); Charlie Enright, 30, (Bristol, RI, USA); Ryan Houston, 32, (NZL); Sebastien Marsset, 30, (FRA); Will Oxley, 49, (AUS); Dave Swete, 30, (NZL); Mark Towill, 26, (Kanehoe, HI, USA); and OnBoard Reporter Amory Ross, 30, (Newport, RI, USA).

Team Alvimedica is the youngest entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015, the world’s toughest and longest sporting event. The crew is led by American skipper Charlie Enright, age 30. Alvimedica, the European based medical devices company, is the team’s owner. Founded in 2007, Alvimedica is a fast growing challenger in the global field of interventional cardiology, committed to developing minimally-invasive technologies. This is the team’s first entry in the extremely challenging 39,000-mile race that started October 11, 2014 from Alicante, Spain and features stopovers in 11 ports around the world.

In the United States, TV coverage continues on the NBC Sports Network on Sunday, April 19 at 2:30pm Eastern.

Team Alvimedica – Race website – Tracking – Scoreboard – Videos – Route

Background: The 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race began in Alicante, Spain on Oct. 11 with the final finish on June 27 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Racing the new one design Volvo Ocean 65, seven teams will be scoring points in 9 offshore legs to determine the overall Volvo Ocean Race winner. Additionally, the teams will compete in 10 In-Port races at each stopover for a separate competition – the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Series. The sixth leg, from Itajaí, Brazil to Newport, USA (5,010 nm), begins April 19 with an ETA of May 6.