Has The Ocean Race lost its mojo?

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The dominant question at the start of The Ocean Race 2023 in January was whether all five IMOCAs would complete the round the world race course. The 60-footers are famously fragile due to their high speeds and multiple appendages, but with one leg to go, all five were on the start line.

And then kaboom, Guyot Environnement on port tack smashed 11th Hour Racing Team on starboard, leaving the three remaining boats to complete the parade laps before the 2200 nm course from the Netherlands to Italy.

“The only reason we are talking about the event at all is this collision,” observed Summer Greene. “Using some OA logic, maybe that’s the point?”

For sure, the 14th edition of The Ocean Race was lacking the star power previously witnessed in this crewed offshore contest. Has professional sailing evolved to where the upper echelon can make better money while sleeping in hotel beds? Maybe…

The cost of competing in the event has been a hindrance, and while the move toward using IMOCAs sought to connect with an existing class to mitigate expense, the move also went toward a type of sailing that is not relatable.

When the boat has foils, the crew is indoors, and the helm is on auto-pilot, it is asking a lot for sailing enthusiasts to connect with the competition.

“I’ve been watching faithfully since 2009 when they stopped in Boston,” shared Jim Aldred. “Downloaded every tracker, waited for each update, and cried with the Vestas grounding. I can’t watch the IMOCAs.”

It doesn’t help when the most notable IMOCA sailor incurs a legal probe over sexual assault allegations, and now with the fault of the collision quite clear, the decision on how to grant redress to 11th Hour Racing remains a mystery.

The collision was on June 15 and four days later there is no information on when that detail will be revealed. For a professional event, with an incident that will decide the winner of the race, we get crickets? Not good…

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

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.