More than a team winning a race

Genova, Italy (June 29, 2023) – It was a day to be remembered as 11th Hour Racing Team became the first US-flagged entry to win The Ocean Race in its 50-year history. And they did it without being there.

In unprecedented scenes, the crew heard about their win via a satellite phone call from team CEO Mark Towill as they delivered their 60-foot IMOCA to the finish line in Genoa. This followed a redress hearing by the World Sailing International Jury which awarded the team compensation for the collision that forced their retirement from Leg 7.

“This victory is an extraordinary accomplishment – but it’s about more than a team winning a race,” said Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of 11th Hour Racing. “We want to engage people in the bigger task of protecting our planet, of restoring ocean health because there is no life on earth without a healthy ocean.

“This race around the world is a symbol of that task, and we want everyone to be on our team. I am extraordinarily proud of the entire 11th Hour Racing Team and all they have overcome. They did more than sail around the world. They carried the message of sustainability, with the singular focus of restoring ocean health. Today, the real winner of this race is the ocean.”

Launched in September 2019, it was the team’s mission to build a high-performance ocean racing team with sustainability at the core of all team operations, inspiring positive action among sailing and coastal communities, and global sports fans, to create long-lasting change for ocean health.

For Skipper Charlie Enright (USA), he became the first American Skipper in two decades to win. “We’re immensely proud of the effort our team has put in, from top to bottom. One thing we like to pride ourselves on is never getting too high, never getting too low, and just working through everything. We say if you’re not winning, you’re learning, and this whole race, we’ve just tried to improve in every single area.”

Another first was for Trimmer Francesca Clapcich (ITA) who became the first Italian to win The Ocean Race. “This race is all about the people – the team that Charlie and Mark have been able to put together is just incredible, and that’s a large part of the success of this team. Everything comes from great leadership, and that is what Charlie has shown all the way around, and even in the really hard moments, he’s been able to keep the team together, and get them working harder and better to achieve our overall goal.”

For Navigator Simon Fisher, this is his second victory in The Ocean Race, having taken the top spot on the podium back in the 2014-15 edition of the race. “The circumstances of this win are a little bizarre, but the news coming in this morning was a huge relief, and it is slowly sinking in that we have won the race.

“I have felt from the outset that as a team, we had done everything we could have done, everything in the right way on the race course, everything by the book in terms of what happened with the collision. It was always my belief that redress is destined for situations just like that.

“But honestly, you never know until you know, there is always a little bit of doubt. As much as I wanted to believe that the team would get the result we deserved, it was never a sure thing until the news was in.

“Charlie has done a great job under what can only be described as a mountain of pressure. He has kept a cool, calm head, and stayed objective, and this speaks volumes about his leadership.

“I’ve done this race six times now, and it has consumed almost 20 years of my life. It’s nice at this stage of my career that I can be involved with a campaign that’s trying to do something more than ‘just’ be competitive and has a positive impact on the sport, the wider community, environment, people, and planet. That’s really important to me.

“Winning is important, and it is what we all strive for, but personally, for me, I hold a lot of value in winning the right way and doing things the right way. And so, to win The Ocean Race with 11th Hour Racing, a team like this, with such a great group of people and a positive mission, is really incredible.”

Trimmer Jack Bouttell (AUS/GBR) has back-to-back wins in The Ocean Race, having won in the 2017-18 edition. “For me, it has been a childhood dream to do this race, this big adventure. And to have won it back-to-back is an insane and incredible feeling.

“The Ocean Race is an incredible project – it takes a lot from you, but it gives a lot as well. These moments are pretty unique, both to live and to experience, and that’s what attracts me back each time.

“I think what clinched it for us was that we remained consistent throughout the race. We had some pretty difficult moments, and there were definitely times when it wasn’t perfect, but we got through them, and we were always learning and always improving. We kept consistency and motivation up and drove it hard all the way to the end.”

11th Hour Racing Team overall crew list for The Ocean Race 2023
Charlie Enright (USA) – Skipper
Simon Fisher (GBR) – Navigator
Jack Bouttell (AUS/GBR) – Trimmer
Franck Cammas (FRA) – Trimmer
Francesca Clapcich (ITA) – Trimmer
Charlie Dalin (FRA) – Trimmer
Damian Foxall (IRL) – Trimmer
Justine Mettraux (FRA) – Trimmer
Pierre Bouras (FRA) – Media Crew Member
Amory Ross (USA) – Media Crew Member

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

IMOCA Final Results
1. 11th Hour Racing Team — 37 points
2. Team Holcim-PRB — 34 points
3. Team Malizia — 32 points
4. Biotherm — 23points
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe — 2 points

VO65 Final Results
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