Upwind in the Mediterranean Sea

(June 23, 2023; Day 9) – All the race boats are now in the Mediterranean Sea, with the action for The Ocean Race spread across the width of the Med, from Europe to Africa. The WindWhisper Racing Team led the way to the north African coast, with all but Biotherm and Team Malizia following, with the latter two tacking up against the Spanish coast.

While WindWhisper still holds a significant lead among the VO65s, the rest of the fleet is tightly stacked. As for the IMOCAs, there is a massive split with Holcim-PRB alone along the Algerian coast, enduing 20 knot upwind conditions.

“We are going to see some really tricky winds,” noted said Biotherm skipper Paul Meilhat. “From Alicante to Genova, it seems like all is possible. Maybe the last day will have very light winds so we want to stay close to the others as I think it might all be decided right at the end!”

As for 11th Hour Racing Team, their delivery mission has them benefiting from wind in the high teens from astern as they slide south along the Portuguese coast. However, their repaired boat will get tested when they enter the Med and face heavy air upwind conditions.

IMOCA – Leg 7 Rankings at 23:00 UTC
1. Holcim-PRB, distance to finish, 622.6 nm
2. Biotherm, distance to lead, 4.0 nm
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 13.3 nm
Retired – 11th Hour Racing Team
Retired – GUYOT environnement

VO65 – Leg 7 Rankings at 23:00 UTC
1. WindWhisper Racing Team, distance to finish, 495.2 nm
2. Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, distance to lead, 131.0 nm
3. Team JAJO, distance to lead, 131.1 nm
4. Viva México, distance to lead, 137.9 nm
5. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova, distance to lead, 142.1 nm
Retired – Ambersail 2

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.

Source: TOR