Uncertainty as The Ocean Race finishes

Genova, Italy (June 27, 2023) – Team Malizia found a way to grab a last-minute win in leg 7 of The Ocean Race, saving the best for last.

On the waters off the finish port of Genova, skipper Boris Herrmann and his crew boldly grabbed the leg lead in extremely light and variable conditions at 0600 UTC this morning, by virtue of heading close to shore and picking up a gentle breeze along the coast.

This allowed them to ease past Team Holcim-PRB, who had led for the majority of the leg from The Hague to Genova, as well as Biotherm, and win their second leg of The Ocean Race.

“I’m very happy and very proud of this team. It’s been a privilege to work with all of them,” said skipper Boris Herrmann, reflecting on the end of his around the world race. “We have the most sailors who completed the full race and Rosie is the only female to do the whole lap of the planet.”

“It’s incredible to finish the leg to Genova in first place,” said Rosie Kuiper. “I still can’t believe it. We have done a lap around the world, pushing ourselves day in and day out and to finish like this is so special… lt’s been a crazy adventure and we had such a good time. We will miss each other and miss being out at sea together.”

Following the finish of Malizia, the wind nearly died completely, leaving Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm and Benjamin Schwartz and his Holcim-PRB crew to play a very downspeed chess match to get to the finishing line.

At the end, it was Biotherm who were able to glide across in second place on leg 7, leaving Team Holcim-PRB to claim third place, an unfortunate result after leading for so much of the leg.

“It was a really close race even if only with three boats,” said Meilhat once his team reached the dock. “Congratulations to Malizia – they took a risk during the night and it worked. We knew from the start that it would all come down to the last moments in front of Genova and this is how it happened.”

On the other hand, third place was a disappointment for Team Holcim-PRB.

“It could have been better as unfortunately we are finishing third today,” Schwartz said on final approach to the line. “Biotherm and Malzia, we couldn’t cover them at one point and they managed to escape and here we are after leading the race for the last 12 days and finishing in the last position of the group, so it’s a bit disappointing. But we are happy to be here in Genova and it was a great leg, we really enjoyed it, so we have to remember this too.”

The two other IMOCA teams in the fleet, 11th Hour Racing Team and GUYOT environnement – Team Europe, were forced to retire from racing shortly after the start, following a collision.

And this means the overall leaderboard for the IMOCA fleet in The Ocean Race remains ‘provisional’ awaiting the Request for Redress that has been filed by 11th Hour Racing Team after being hit just after the start by GUYOT environnement – Team Europe, who acknowledged responsibility for the incident.

The World Sailing International Jury will hear the Redress request on June 29. With today’s results, Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team is just one point behind Team Holcim-PRB, so any award of redress of one point or more will give the team overall victory in The Ocean Race.

VO65 Sprint
The first boat to finish in Genova today – just minutes ahead of Malizia – was Team JAJO, with skipper Jelmer van Beek sliding home just over 24 hours after WindWhisper Racing Team won the VO65 Sprint.

“We always said this leg was going to come down to the very end, the last night, and I’m so proud of the team for pulling it off because every day was a battle,” van Beek said. “In the end we were on the right side of it. We’re really happy!”

The second place finish into Genova ensures Team JAJO has locked up second place in the VO65 Sprint leaderboard.

Viva Mexico then had their best result of the VO65 Sprint, a third place podium finish that was a long time coming, with the dying breeze prolonging their leg.

Behind them, the light conditions also enveloped Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team and Austrian Ocean Racing – Team Genova who continued racing this afternoon – very slowly – towards Genova.

When the wind died completely, the Race Committee contacted both boats and offered to shorten the course and finish them in place, which was gratefully accepted, leaving Austrian Ocean Racing – Team Genova in fourth place and Mirpuri/Trifork Racing scored as fifth place for Stage 3.

IMOCA – Leg 7 Results
1. Team Malizia, finished June 27 at 11:17:51 UTC (11:19:02:51)
2. Biotherm, finished June 27 at 12:54:23 UTC (11:20:29:23)
3. Holcim-PRB, finished June 27 at 13:31:49 UTC (11:21:16:49)
Retired – 11th Hour Racing Team
Retired – GUYOT environnement

VO65 – Leg 7 Results
1. WindWhisper Racing Team, finished June 26 at 10:27:52 UTC (10:23:17:52)
2. Team JAJO, finished June 27 at 10:50:43 UTC (11:23:40:43)
3. Viva México, finished June 27 at 13:35:39 UTC (12:02:25:39)
4. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova, finished June 27 at 15:30:00 UTC (12:04:20:00)
5. Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team, finished June 27 at 15:45:00 UTC (12:04:35:00)
Retired – Ambersail 2

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

IMOCA Overall Leaderboard* (after 7 of 7 legs)
1. Team Holcim-PRB — 34 points
2. 11th Hour Racing Team — 33 points
3. Team Malizia — 32 points
4. Biotherm — 23points
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe — 2 points
* Results are provisional as they wait for 11th Hour redress hearing on June 29.

VO65 Overall Leaderboard (after 3 of 3 legs):
1. WindWhisper Racing Team — 18 points
2. Team JAJO — 14 points
3. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova — 10 points
4. Viva México — 8 points
5. Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team — 7 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