The Ocean Race on approach to Newport

(May 10, 2023; Day 18) – It’s a cool, crisp, spring day, with bright sunshine and clear blue skies for the Leg 4 finish in Newport, RI.

Unfortunately for the trio racing towards the finish line off Fort Adams State Park, the high pressure system clearing the sky today also brings light winds.

11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malizia have therefore been engaged in a low speed, tactical race as they weave through exclusion zones. It’s an agonizing way to finish the leg, but on Malizia at least, spirits remain high.

“We have one final fight with 11th Hour Racing Team, one final push, and I think we can be very happy with how we’ve sailed so far,” said Malizia skipper Will Harris. “We just have to enjoy these last few hours at sea and we can look forward to a nice welcome in Newport. No matter how it goes, we can be happy with how we sailed and knowing we’ve given it everything we’ve got so far.”

As they get closer to shore and the sea breeze builds, speeds will pick up and both leading boats are expected to finish later in the afternoon (local time EDT) in Newport.

The third boat racing – Biotherm – is about 6 hours behind the leaders.

“It’s not over yet, we’re still pushing into the finish,” said Alan Roberts on Biotherm. “Some snakes and ladders ahead…”

After their dismastiing yesterday, GUYOT environnement – Team Europe has mounted a jury rig (above) and are now able to make way across the wind, but details on their future plans have not yet been released.

Leg Four Rankings at 17:25 UTC
1. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to finish, 29.4 nm
2. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 12.4 nm
3. Biotherm, distance to lead, 152.1 nm
Retired – 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.

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