Secret weapon for 11th Hour Racing

The penultimate leg for The Ocean Race has overall leader 11th Hour Racing Team retooling its crew for the short, three-day coastal dash from Aarhus, Denmark to The Hague, Netherlands. Skipper Charlie Enright (USA) has called in France’s Sailor of the Decade, Franck Cammas (FRA), as Trimmer, alongside Navigator Simon Fisher (GBR), Trimmer Francesca Clapcich (ITA), and Pierre Bouras (FRA) as Media Crew Member.

“Franck (above) will bring a fresh intensity as we head towards the end of the race,” commented Enright. “He comes with a lot of IMOCA experience, he is a former winner of The Ocean Race, and this is an 800 nautical mile, three-day leg, kind of like a Solitaire du Figaro, and he won that too! He did some pre-race training with us, so he knows the crew and the boat well, and we look forward to having him join the team.”

Cammas is one of France’s most successful sailors, a previous winner of The Ocean Race as skipper of Groupama in 2012, and a six-time ORMA World Champion. Appointed Sailor of the Decade in 2020, the multihull expert has won every race he has entered with the Groupe Edmond de Rothschild Ultime since 2019 and is currently co-skipper with Jérémie Beyou on the IMOCA Charal 2.

“The Ocean Race is really close to my heart since we won with Groupama in 2012. I’ve been following this edition of the race from the start, and I’m impressed with 11th Hour Racing Team’s fighting spirit on their new IMOCA.

‘I trained with them in Lisbon [Portugal] in 2021 and am looking forward to getting back onboard and learning more about racing IMOCAs fully crewed. Being able to push these boats at 100% is something we can’t do short-handed, and I’m impressed by the speed and the power of the boats.

“I’m also looking forward to racing with the Anglo-Saxon culture there is in the team – that will be new to me in my career, and something very different from the French way of doing things.

“Charlie and the team always have a positive mindset, which makes sailing with them enjoyable, yet still totally focused on pushing themselves, and the boat, as hard as they can. If you look at the current rankings, I think they have a good strategy, and I can’t wait to get going!”

Francesca Clapcich returns to the rotating squad of sailors for the final two legs, replacing Justine Mettraux, who has returned to her solo Vendée Globe campaign.

“It’s great to be back onboard, especially for the final couple of legs. We are leading, so there is definitely pressure on us for the next few weeks, to stay at the top of the leaderboard,” she commented. “The last leg is super special for me as we’ll be racing into my home country. Sailing into Genoa will be quite emotional, and gives me even more motivation to get there as quickly as possible.

“I love to go fast, so I am always trying to go push a bit faster if possible! The next leg will be a sprint, and definitely closer to the type of sailing I’m used to – coastal racing – pretty tight, quick decision-making, a lot of maneuvers, and getting back up to speed fast. There will be a lot of sail trimming, and I’ll be staying focused on the speed of the boat, and hopefully freeing up Si Fi [Simon Fisher] to be able to focus on the tactical decision-making.”

Another new face onboard 11th Hour Racing Team is Pierre Bouras, the hugely experienced videographer and photographer, replacing Amory Ross (USA) who injured his shoulder during the last leg.

The Ocean Race leaves Aarhus on June 8 at 1615 UTC and the 800 nautical mile course to The Hague includes a detour past the German port of Kiel, with the finish expected by June 11.

Leg 6: From Aarhus, Denmark to a mark at Kiel, Germany and then back up and around the top of Denmark to the finish in The Hague, The Netherlands (800nm)
Leg 7: From The Hague, Netherlands, down the coast of western Europe, though the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea for the finish in Genova, Italy (2200nm)

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

Overall Leaderboard (after 5 of 7 legs)
1. 11th Hour Racing Team — 28 points
2. Team Holcim-PRB — 27 points
3. Team Malizia — 24 points
4. Biotherm — 17 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: 11th Hour