Naming as a tribute to ocean health

The 11th Hour Racing Team, preparing for The Ocean Race 2022-23, officially named their two 60-foot round the world offshore race boats in Concarneau, France. Drawing on the Hawaiian heritage of team CEO, Mark Towill, the brand new IMOCA 60 previously nicknamed 11.2 was named Mālama (“to care for”) and the team’s second boat known as 11.1 was named Alaka’i (“leadership”).

Both boats will carry the team’s message focusing on the urgent need to restore the health of our ocean, aligning with the mission of USA title sponsor 11th Hour Racing. The naming ceremony event was the culmination of more than two years worth of work since the team was formed in June 2019 with the goal of raising awareness about ocean health.

“I am incredibly proud that the team has chosen to give our two boats names that derive from my Hawaiian heritage,” said Towill. “‘Mālama honua’ is a phrase that is often used back home – it means to care for and protect our world, something as a team, and as individuals, we are all passionate about.

“When we first started discussing this campaign with 11th Hour Racing, we shared our vision of what it could achieve both from a sporting perspective and aspirationally – to drive real change within the marine industry. We look to serve the boat names well as we move into the next phase – the build up to The Ocean Race 2022-23.”

The new 11th Hour Racing Team boat – Mālama – is the first in a new generation of IMOCA 60s, uniquely designed for round the world, crewed offshore racing. Typically, IMOCA 60s have been designed for the pinnacle of solo sailing, the Vendée Globe, while Mālama has been optimized for up to five sailors onboard.

Both boats will be taking part in The Défi Azimut 2021 race on September 15-19 Lorient, France.

Charlie Enright (USA) and Pascal Bidégorry (FRA) will co-skipper Mālama in her first competitive race since launching last month while Alaka’i will be sailed by Simon Fisher (GBR) and Justine Mettraux (SUI), who are hungry for more after their stellar double-handed debut last month at the Rolex Fastnet Race.

This year, in its 11th edition, the Défi Azimut consists of a number of different race formats, including:

• Crewed speed runs on September 15.
• A double-handed, offshore 48-hour race starting September 16.
• A final race around Ile de Groix in a fully crewed configuration on September 19.

Event details: https://www.defi-azimut.net/en

Event details – Route – Teams – Facebook

The Ocean Race 2022-23 (formerly Volvo Ocean Race) will 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. Entries in the IMOCA 60 class will compete for The Ocean Race trophy, while those racing the VO65s will chase the Ocean Challenge Trophy. The 14th edition was originally planned for 2021-22 but was postponed one year due to the pandemic.

Source: 11th Hour Racing Sailing Team