Intense leg finishes in The Hague

The Hague, Netherlands (June 11, 2023) – The result for the sixth leg of The Ocean Race was in doubt until the end, with 11th Hour Racing Team along with Team Holcim-PRB and Team Malizia racing within shouting distance of each other during most of this morning.

The final approach to The Hague required one short upwind section where the boats were criss-crossing within metres with each tack, but skipper Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team held their nerve and made the final turn south with a small lead they would manage to hold through the finishing line.

“They crossed ahead of us, we were actually behind with about 25-30 miles to go,” Enright said in disbelief at the intensity of the racing. “But a big thanks to everyone on board just never giving up the fight and digging in and always believing…

“Even when the other guys kept coming into us from behind, I think we just thought we were not gonna let them win that way. But what an unbelievable race all of these teams sailed – Holcim-PRB, Malizia, Biotherm, GUYOT. This was a tough, treacherous race course. Everybody deserves congratulations for their finish here in The Hague.”

Just 12 minutes behind, Team Holcim-PRB crossed the finishing line after fending off a late charge from Team Malizia who crossed just over a minute later. The top three boats in the fleet were within 15 minutes.

“This was a very intense leg,” said Team Holcim-PRB skipper Benjamin Schwartz. “We pushed as hard as we could and now we have to focus on the final leg into Genova.”

The results leave the Holcim-PRB team trailing 11th Hour Racing Team by 2 points on the overall leaderboard. Malizia is a further four points behind.

“Mixed feelings for us on this leg,” said Will Harris. “Obviously happy to have been able to catch up so much in the last part of the leg, but we would have liked to grab at least one more point.”

The reception in The Hague was overwhelming for Team Malizia’s Dutch crew member, Rosalin Kuiper, who has grown into a star here over the course of the Race.

“This has been such a special day to be here with all of this support from friends and family,” she said. “I’ve devoted a third of my life to professional sailing and being able to share this with all the people who have supported me is amazing.”

Moments after the Malizian boat crossed the finishing line, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of The Netherlands climbed on board to welcome Rosalin and the Malzia crew.

Not far behind the leading trio, Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm secured a fourth place finish over Benjamin Dutreux and his team on GUYOT evironnement-Team Europe, who returned to for the race to The Hague following a dismasting on leg 4.

In the VO65s, WindWhisper Racing Team stretched their lead at the top of the table as the fleet returned for the second stage of the VO65 Sprint. It’s two wins in a row for the team, after a victory in stage one from Alicante to Cabo Verde in January.

“Of course it’s important to get the win and with Team JAJO in third place, this gives us a little bit of breathing space heading into the final race to Genova,” said skipper Pablo Arrarte.

“It was a very challenging leg – we had everything you would expect in a long race packed into three days. I’m proud of the team and happy with the result.”

The Mirpuri-Trifork Racing Team took a well-earned second place over the local heroes on Team JAJO, with Austrian Ocean Racing-Team Genova ahead of Viva México.

“It’s good to be home,” said Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek. “It has been a short and hectic three day race. Awesome to arrive for this home crowd and we were cheered on by all the boats out on the water and all the fans in the harbour. We even had some spectator boats already following us from IJmuiden which was really magnificent. Now it’s time for some beers, food from my mom and a short sleep!”

WindWhisper Racing Team has now opened up a three point margin on the VO65 Sprint leaderboard, but the standings behind are very close and the Grand Finale leg into Genova will be decisive.

IMOCA – Leg 6 Results
1. 11th Hour Racing Team, finished at 10:26:52 UTC (2d 18h 11min 52s)
2. Holcim-PRB, finished at 10:39:15 UTC (2d 18h 24min 15s)
3. Team Malizia, finished at 10:40:35 UTC (2d 18h 25min 35s)
4. Biotherm, finished at 11:17:21 UTC (2d 21h 13min 33s)
5. GUYOT environnement, finished at 11:32:27 UTC (2d 19h 17min 27s)

VO65 – Leg 6 Results
1. WindWhisper Racing, finished at 11:23:33 UTC (2d 21h 13min 33s)
2. Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team, finished at 11:33:39 UTC (2d 21h 23min 39s)
3. Team JAJO, finished at 11:47:37 UTC (2d 21h 36min 37s)
4. Austrian Ocean Racing – Team Genova, finished at 12:09:16 UTC (2d 21h 59min 16s)
5. Viva Mexico, finished at 12:29:47 UTC (2d 22h 19min 47s)
6. Ambersail 2, Did Not Start

Leg 7: Starts June 15. 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

IMOCA Overall Leaderboard (after 6 of 7 legs)
1. 11th Hour Racing Team — 33 points
2. Team Holcim-PRB — 31 points
3. Team Malizia — 27 points
4. Biotherm — 19 points
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe — 2 points

VO65 Overall Leaderboard (after 2 of 3 legs):
1. WindWhisper Racing Team — 12 points
2. Team JAJO — 9 points
3. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova — 7 points
4. Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team — 5 points
5. Viva México — 4 points
6. Ambersail 2 — 3 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.