New monohull speeds in The Ocean Race

(May 27, 2023; Day 7) – Records are being set and then broken again on leg 5 of The Ocean Race.

First it was 11th Hour Racing Team, powering to a new standard, only to be eclipsed a short time later by Team Holcim-PRB, who appeared to have secured not only a new race record, but the outright monohull record for distance covered in 24 hours.

But Team Malizia, the trailing boat of the leading trio, was the last to nose into the favorable conditions for breaking records: downwind reaching in 25 knots and relatively flat water. Simply ideal for the latest generation IMOCAs.

But if the Malizians had a later start, their endgame was brilliant. Last night, near 22:20 UTC, the team edged past the mark set by Team Holcim-PRB, and narrowly established the new standard – 641.13 nautical miles covered in 24 hours.

The data will need to ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council to become official, but it is well past the previous mark of 618.01 miles set by the 100 foot maxi yacht Comanche in 2015.

Watch Team Malizia breaking the record: click here.

“Congrats to all the team, it feels a little bit unbelievable and still like everyone is hesitant to celebrate but we are super happy and have only good vibes,” said Team Malizia skipper Boris Herrmann.

“It’s great to see that the boat can do so well. We had exceptional conditions with a flat sea, the wind steady from the right direction, the right angle for such a long time… Sometimes, the waves got a little bit shorter and we would slow down to 18 knots and get a bit stuck in the sea. Most of the time the boat would pass the sea perfectly and fly at 27 to 34 knots, it felt really relaxed.

“In a way, it didn’t feel like pushing and we didn’t think we would be able to break the record, so we were quite relaxed most of the time except in the three last hours where the excitement of maybe breaking the record built up.

“And then there was an epic, funny, exciting moment, such a good team spirit and thanks to all the team here and on land and our partners that have made this possible and have built this amazing boat, I am super proud of everyone and Malizia – Seaexplorer.”

The fast pace has also brought the Malizians right back into the race for honors into Aarhus, now trailing the leading 11th Hour Racing Team by just 21 miles. Team Holcim-PRB is squeezed in the middle, just 8 miles back.

The leading pack were racing up the west coast of Scotland today, and have made the turn to the east around the top of the UK and towards Denmark.

With the blistering pace of the last 48 hours, the ETA into Aarhus has moved up to as early as midnight on Sunday night (May 28).

The fourth boat in the fleet, Biotherm, continues its private race, having fallen into a different weather pattern, skipper Paul Meilhat and his team are in good spirits, but over a full day behind the leaders.

Leg Five Rankings at 23:00 UTC
1. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to finish, 503.9 nm
2. Holcim-PRB, distance to lead, 7.8 nm
3. Team Malizia, distance to lead, 20.8 nm
4. Biotherm, distance to lead, 607.0 nm
Did not start – GUYOT environnement

For the crew lists, click here.

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

Overall Leaderboard (after 4 of 7 legs)
1. Team Holcim-PRB — 19 points
2. 11th Hour Racing Team — 18 points
3. Team Malizia — 18 points
4. Biotherm — 13 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.

Source: TOR