Race of the wounded in The Ocean Race

Itajaí, Brazil (April 3, 2023; Day 37) – With leg 3 winner Team Malizia and second-place finisher Team Holcim-PRB safe in Itajaí, the battle on the water for third place has closed up dramatically over the past 24 hours.

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm crew has realized a significant gain on 11th Hour Racing Team, making up nearly 100 miles on the leaderboard. The pair are separated east/west by about 80 miles, but in terms of distance to finish are now virtually tied.

See the conditions on board Biotherm: click here

Both crews have suffered from damage in the five weeks of racing to date, and a race for third place isn’t the race they were dreaming about when this leg started in Cape Town. And now the weather isn’t ideal for making fast progress to the finish – light to moderate winds, upwind.

“Everyone and every boat has been pushed to the limit and beyond,” said 11th Hour Racing Team skipper Charlie Enright. “We need to get to Itajaí as fast as possible, for the points, for the physical and mental rest, and, most importantly, to be preparing Mālama for the next leg, into our hometown of Newport, Rhode Island.”

All of the teams have lengthy work lists for their boats, and 11th Hour Racing Team and Biotherm are no exception. Team Malizia and Holcim PRB boats are already out of the water and working on their lists.

GUYOT environnement completed their delivery while 11th Hour Racing Team and Biotherm are expected to arrive by April 5.

Leg Three Rankings at 21:00 UTC
1. Team Malizia, finished April 2 at 05:20:28 UTC (34 days, 17 hours, 10 mins, 28 seconds)
2. Holcim-PRB, finished April 2 at 10:56:20 UTC (34 days, 22 hours, 46 mins, 20 seconds)
3. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to finish, 352.5 nm
4. Biotherm, distance to finish, 353.3 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GUYOT environnement – withdrawn from Leg 3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