Critical wins for the 11th Hour Racing Team and the WindWhisper Racing

The final result was an incognite to the final stages of stage 6, as the 11th Hour Racing Team, Team Holcim-PRB and Team Malizia sailed by stone during most of the Sunday morning.

The final approach to The Hague took place with a short girdle where the ships were crossed a few meters in each turn, but the 11th Hour Racing Team of the Charlie Enright pattern kept his nerves and turned for the last time south with a small advantage that they would manage to maintain up to the finish line.

Only 12 minutes behind, Team Holcim-PRB crossed the finish line after defending itself from a last Team Malizia attack, which ended just over a minute later. The first three ships of the fleet ended in less than 15 minutes.

The results leave Team Holcim-PRB 2 points behind the 11th Hour Racing Team in the general. The Malizia is another four points back.

The Dutch crew of Team Malizia, Rosalin Kuiper had a spectacular reception in The Hague, as it has become a star in the course of the race.

Moments after the Malizia crossed the finish line, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands came on board to welcome Rosalin and the Malizia crew.

Very close to the trio-head, Paul Meilhat's Biotherm secured the fourth place ahead of Benjamin Dutreux and his Guyot econsequnement-Team Europe, who returned in the stage to The Hague after they displanted in stage 4.

In the VO65, the WindWhisper Racing Team, patronized by the Spanish Pablo Arrarte, expanded its leadership after the second stage of the VO65 Sprint.

The two victories followed by the Polish team, having also imposed in the first stage of Alicante to Cape Verde in January, make him a solid leader.

The Mirpuri-Trifork Racing Team, patronized by Roberto 'Chuny' Bermudez de Castro, won a well-deserved second place ahead of the local heroes of Team JAJO, and the Austrian Ocean Racing-Team Genova was fourth ahead of Viva Mexico.

The WindWhisper Racing Team has opened a three-point gap in the classification of the VO65 Sprint Cup, but the classification behind it is very hard and the stage of the Great Final in Genoa will be decisive.

IMOCA classification after Stage 6
1. 11th Hour Racing Team - 33 points
2. Team Holcim-PRB - 31
3. Team Malizia - 27
4. Biotherm - 19
5. Guyot environnement-Team Europe - 2

VO65 classification after VO65 Sprint 2
1. WindWhisper Racing Team - 12 points
2. Team JAJO - 9
3. Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova - 7
4. Mirpuri / Trifork Racing Team - 5
5. Viva Mexico - 4
6. Ambersail 2 - 3

2023-06-10: The Ocean Race... tomorrow the IMOCA and VO65 are expected in The Hague

The last time the Ocean Race was in Kiel was on June 9, 2002, just 21 years ago, when the German team illbruck - with Spanish Joan Vila - celebrated his victory at the Volvo Ocean Race... among the crowd was a young German regatist who began his career, Boris Herrmann, and the event gave him an unbeatable impression.

The Flying and Foyer fleet of IMOCA competing in The Ocean Race and the VO65 monotypes competing in the VO65 Sprint left Aarhus on Thursday with a difference of just two hours between the two fleets.

And as the IMOCA turned south on Friday to sail on the Kiel fjord in front of tens of thousands of fans, the VO65 moved north to a beacon off the coast of Norway.

But on the day today, both fleets are rejoining off the west coast of Denmark, while the 65 pass the aforementioned beacon and the IMOCA are moving south along the Danish coast.

And after having followed different routes, both fleets are moving quickly to The Hague, where they are scheduled to arrive on Sunday afternoon.

This is the shortest stage of the race and, while it is too long (800 miles, almost 3 days) to stay awake all the time, it is also too short for most teams to fully implement their guard systems. There are regatists who are going to get to The Hague destroyed on Sunday afternoon.

The 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Holcim-PRB, the two leaders in the race general, have slightly separated from the final trio formed by Biotherm, Team Malizia and GUYOT environment - Team Europe. A victory in The Hague would give the 11th Hour Racing Team a good margin in the classification for the final stage towards the Grand Final in Genoa.

In the VO65 fleet, the WindWhisper Racing Team continues to hold the first position ahead of Team JAJO and the Mirpuri / Trifork Racing, although it is all very equal: the difference between the first and the fifth is less than 25 miles.

It is expected that both fleets will arrive on Sunday afternoon in The Hague, although the exact time is still unknowable as the conditions near the goal are not yet assured with the weather forecast... I hear the arrival of 10 ships on an extremely sunny and warm Sunday afternoon in The Hague promises to be a fabulous show for the fans of The Ocean Race.

2023-06-08: The Ocean Race: 10 ships leave Aarhus for The Hague, in the penultimate act

IMOCA are heading for the Kiel flyby (passing through the beacon) Friday afternoon, while VO65 are sailing to The Hague with the estimated arrival date on Sunday for both fleets

The Ocean Race returned to the cargo in Aarhus with the re-entry of the VO65 fleet for the European stages... heading to The Hague to cover the penultimate act.

In the absence of two stages for the end of the race in Genoa, the classification of VO65 remains very open and the stage until The Hague is an important opportunity to add points. The arrival is scheduled for 11 June.

As the afternoon progressed, the IMOCA fleet took the exit. In the world round classification everything is to be decided: the 11th Hour Racing Team is in first position, but only one point ahead of Team Holcim-PRB.

The IMOCA fleet is heading towards the passage through the Kiel fly-by beacon, where more than 100,000 visitors and 1,000 ships are expected on the Kiel fjord, with the expected time of arrival in the middle of the afternoon of this Friday, before heading towards the Hague goal.

The first to cross the exit line in a sunny afternoon with soft breezes were the five VO65, who have again competed in the second stage of the VO65 Sprint after three sabbatical months

The scale in Aarhus has been perfect and thanks to a magnificent spring time Ocean Live Park has attracted a great many visitors. The event's organizers estimate that between 350,000 and 400,000 fans have enjoyed the race's scale in Aarhus, including over 7,000 schoolchildren who have participated in educational programs.

Two hours after the VO65 had left Aarhus, the 10 knots of winds fell dramatically to only 2-4 knots. The frustration and stress took over the IMOCA fleet at the start of a stage that already promises to be extremely challenging, especially for the next 24 hours until Kiel's fly- by.

11th Hour Racing Team and the Biotherm were the best exits, followed closely by Team Holcim-PRB... with Team Holcim-PRB in third place. Later, the Malizia had overtaken the Guyot environnement- Team Europe.

When the fleet cleared the exit door and headed towards Kiel, the 11th Hour Racing Team led the fleet, with the second Biotherm, the third Team Holcim-PRB, the fourth GUYOT environnement and the fifth Malizia... the expected arrival to Kiel is Friday afternoon, and the fleet should arrive in The Hague on Sunday, 11 June.