11th Hour wins The Ocean Race Leg 4

Newport, RI (May 10, 2023) – 11th Hour Racing Team won leg 4 of The Ocean Race, leading the fleet into their hometown of Newport, Rhode Island on a spectacular spring afternoon in New England.

Skipper Charlie Enright was beaming as he stepped ashore, moments after his team held off Team Malizia to cross the finishing line for their first leg win of the event.

“This means so much to all of us,” Enright said. “Timing is everything and to be able to get this result, on this leg, coming to our home base in Newport feels incredible. Everybody on the team played a role and did their part.

“It feels so good to see all the boats on the water and the people here on shore to welcome us and share this with us. We’re grateful for the support and happy we could get the win for everybody.”

The crew onboard the 60-foot race boat, Mālama, for this Leg comprised Skipper Charlie Enright (RI, USA), Navigator Simon Fisher (GBR), Trimmers Francesca Clapcich (ITA) and Damian Foxall (IRL), and Media Crew Member, Amory Ross (RI, USA).

It wasn’t an easy leg. Over the 17 days of racing north from Itajaí, Brazil, the teams had to manage numerous transitions between weather systems, from the southern hemisphere tradewinds, through the doldrums, and into the north Atlantic trades.

A storm just two days out from the finish brought wind gusts over 50 knots and a brutal sea state, conditions that veteran on board reporter Amory Ross described as ‘terrifying’.

And through it all, 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malizia exchanged the lead over a dozen times, before Enright and his squad emerged with the win this afternoon.

“This was a great race,” said Team Malizia skipper Will Harris. “It was close racing, which is something we always like, and it sets us up nicely for the legs ahead.”

The results today, combined with overall race leader Team Holcim-PRB having to retire from the leg after dismasting on day five, mean the top three teams on the leaderboard will be within one point when the transatlantic race starts on May 21.

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm crew is still at sea racing with their ETA slipping into tomorrow as the boat is mired in lighter winds.

Leg Four Rankings at 22:30 UTC
1. 11th Hour Racing Team, finished May 10 at 18:41:41 UTC (17d 02h 26min 41s)
2. Team Malizia, finished May 10 at 19:13:22 UTC (17d 02h 58min 22s)
3. Biotherm, distance to finish, 157.3 nm
Suspended racing – GUYOT environnement, (dismasted May 9)
Retired – Holcim-PRB, retired (dismasted April 27)

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

Overall Leaderboard (after 3 of 7 legs)
1. Team Holcim-PRB — 19 points
2. Team Malizia — 14 points
3. 11th Hour Racing Team — 13 points
4. Biotherm — 10 points
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe — 2 points

IMOCA: Name, 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.

Held every three or four years since 1973, 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: TOR