Fast sailing for The Ocean Race

(January 18, 2023; Day 4) – The Swiss-flagged Holcim-PRB team remains at the head of the IMOCA fleet today as all five boats are setting a blistering pace directly towards Cabo Verde. The leading teams are putting up close to 500-mile days with Holcim-PRB now just 992 miles from the finishing line at Cabo Verde.

See the drone footage of Holcim-PRB: click here

Now free of the constraints of the Mediterranean, the teams are set up for some fast sailing across the wind. IMOCAs are designed to excel in these conditions and the miles to the finish line are melting away.

Get on board 11th Hour Racing Team: click here

Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB is holding off 11th Hour Racing Team for the lead, while Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia is positioned furthest east and closest to the direct route rhumb line.

“I think we’ve seen 33.7 knots of boat speed this morning,” said Will Harris on board Team Malizia. “We’re going fast… We’re enjoying some straight line sailing after all the tacking getting to Gibraltar. Looking forward to getting to Cabo Verde in a few days.”

Get on board Team Malizia: click here

In fact, the ETA for the IMOCA fleet is overnight (GMT) on January 20, with France’s Biotherm and GUYOT envirionnement Team Europe some 100 miles behind the leaders.

In The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint, WindWhisper Racing Team, Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team and Team JAJO are fighting for the lead and keeping pace with the fourth and fifth placed IMOCA boats.

Here, life on board is under ‘firehose’ conditions with water constantly pouring over the deck and into the sailors in the cockpit.

“Everything I brought is either wet, or more wet,” said Cecilia Zorzi (ITA) from on board the fourth-placed Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova. “Nothing is dry but we are still having fun and Cabo Verde is getting closer and closer.”

Still in the Mediterranean, Viva Mexico resumed racing on Wednesday morning with a different mainsail after damaging their original beyond repair. They are just over 550 miles behind the rest of the fleet.

The VO65s are currently expected to arrive in Cabo Verde over the course of the day on January 21 (GMT).

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

Rankings at 1500 GMT
IMOCA

1. Team Holcim-PRB, 992.5 miles to finish

2. 11th Hour Racing Team, 17.8 miles to leader

3. Team Malizia, 75.6 miles to leader

4. Biotherm, 107.0 miles to leader

5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe, 139.7 miles to leader

VO65

1. WindWhisper Racing, 1100.4 miles to finish

2. Mirpuri Foundation Race Team, 22.6 miles to leader

3. Team JAJO, 31.2 miles to leader

4. Austrian Ocean Race – Team Genova, 66.0 miles to leader

5. Ambersail 2, 107.1 miles to leader

6. Viva Mexico, resumed racing, 574.4 miles to leader

IMOCA: Boat, 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 start: January 15, 2023
Cabo Verde – ETA: January 22; Leg 2 start: January 25
Cape Town, South Africa – ETA: February 9; Leg 3 start: February 26 or 27 (TBC)
Itajaí, Brazil – ETA: April 1; Leg 4 start: April 23
Newport, RI, USA – ETA: May 10; Leg 5 start: May 21
Aarhus, Denmark – ETA: May 30; Leg 6 start: June 8
Kiel, Germany (Fly-By) – June 9
The Hague, The Netherlands – ETA: June 11; Leg 7 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.

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: The Ocean Race