Team Holcim-PRB undefeated in The Ocean Race

(March 12, 2023; Day 15) – Team Holcim-PRB continues to set a blistering pace in The Ocean Race as skipper Kevin Escoffier and his team claimed maximum points at the scoring gate to maintain their perfect record in the race following wins in leg 1 and leg 2.

The team also set what appears for the moment to be a “final” 24 hour record for a monohull up to 60-feet of 595.26 nautical miles at 02:15 UTC this morning, completely obliterating the previous certified record of 539 miles and the unofficial record of 560 miles.

With a 130+ nm lead, the racing remains tight among the chasing pack as Team Malizia just overhauled 11th Hour Racing Team in the race for second place points, and the pair are starting to drop Biotherm in their wakes.

“We are diving south underneath Australia, still going fast at 24 knots, but more importantly now it is all about getting to the scoring gate in good shape,” said 11th Hour Racing Team navigator Simon Fisher.

“We are in a similar situation to before, we have a front behind us and a high pressure in front of us, and it is all about managing our latitude to get under the high and stay in the good pressure, and in front of the front. It is super close. We are trying to manage our angles and speeds and will try to pip the others to the scoring gate, which is coming up fast.”

Leg Three Rankings at 17:45 UTC
1. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 7608.7 nm
2. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 137.2 nm
3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 145.7 nm
4. Biotherm, distance to lead, 187.6 nm
GUYOT environnement – withdrawn from Leg 3

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

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 (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.

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