Genoa lives its intense superTuesday of arrivals with 7 ships of two classes arriving to the Grand Final

Team Malizia found a way to get a last-minute victory at stage 7 of The Ocean Race, leaving the best for the end... at the arrival in the waters of the port of Genoa, the patron Boris Herrmann and his crew boldly took the lead in extremely light and variable conditions at 6: 00 UTC on Tuesday morning, thanks to the fact that they approached the ground and took a soft breeze along the coast.

This allowed them to easily overcome Team Holcim-PRB, which had led most of the stage of The Hague to Genoa, as well as the Biotherm, and thus win its second stage in The Ocean Race.

After the arrival of the Malizia, the wind almost completely gushed, leaving Paul Meilhat's Biotherm and Benjamin Schwartz's Holcim-PRB to play a slow game of chess to reach the finish line.

In the end, the Biotherm achieved second place in stage 7, leaving the Holcim-PRB team third, an unfortunate result after being the leader for much of the stage.

On the other hand, the third place has been a disappointment to Team Holcim-PRB... the other two IMOCAs of the fleet, the 11th Hour Racing Team and the GUYOT environment - Team Europe, were forced to withdraw shortly after the departure, after starring in a collision.

Therefore, the overall classification of the IMOCA fleet in The Ocean Race remains' provisional 'pending the request for repair submitted by the 11th Hour Racing Team after GUYOT Environnement, Team Europe hit him shortly after departure and recognized responsibility for the incident.

The International Jury of World Sailing will hear the request for repair on Thursday. With today's results, Charlie Enright's 11th Hour Racing Team is just one point away from Team Holcim-PRB, so any compensation of a point or more will give the team the overall victory at The Ocean Race.

The first ship to finish in Genoa on Tuesday, just a few minutes ahead of the Malizia, has been Team JAJO, with the pattern Jelmer van Beek crossing the goal just over 24 hours after the WindWhisper Racing Team won the VO65 Sprint.

The second place in Genova assures Team JAJO the second place in the classification of the VO65 Sprint... Viva Mexico then had its best result of the VO65 Sprint, a third place that took long to arrive, with a dying wind prolonging its stage.

Behind them, the loose wind conditions have also affected the Mirpuri / Trifork Racing Team and the Austrian Ocean Racing - Team Genova, which continue to sail on Tuesday afternoon, very slowly, to Genoa.

https: / / www.theoceanrace.com / en / scoreboard

2023-06-26: WindWhisper Racing Team wins in Genoa and The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup

WindWhisper Racing Team wins the Stage while seven ships continue to sail to Genoa and are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday morning...

The WindWhisper Racing Team has won the last stage of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint in Genova, overtaking the rest of the fleet by an abysmal difference.

The Polish ship crossed the goal with only six knots of wind at 10: 27: 52 UTC, with a total time in the 10 days, 23 hours, 17 minutes and 52 seconds stage. The rest of the fleet still has more than 100 nautical miles left with very soft winds, so the WindWhisper could win the stage of The Hague to Genoa for more than 18 hours of advantage.

In the IMOCA class, Team Holcim-PRB leads the fleet. After having strong winds on the coast of France during the night, the team now resail quite slowly, with winds of about 5 knots, when they have 100 miles to reach the goal... Biotherm, right to the stern of the Holcim, confirms that it will be nothing simple.

https: / / www.theoceanrace.com / en / scoreboard

In view of the planned meteor, the expected arrival for the remaining ships is very uncertain, but the best estimate is still Tuesday morning.

2023-06-25: The Ocean Race: with Genoa near the fleets are grouped

The fleets are moving towards the goal constantly, but slower than desired

If there was not enough urgency to get to Genoa, Ambrogio Beccaria is more desperate than ever. The Italian crew of Team Holcim-PRB is not only eager to reach their home country as soon as possible, but also the IMOCA supplies are being exhausted.

With only five souls on board, the Nutella thief should not be very difficult to unmask. But then there is the issue of maintaining the concentration to go ahead of its rivals, which is resulting from everything less simple in a more complicated Mediterranean Sea than usual.

In the last hour of Friday night, Master Benjamin Schwartz took Holcim to the coast of Algeria in search of a night wind coming from the African continent. Meanwhile, the Biotherm and Team Malizia decided to remain in European waters as they opened their way to the Spanish coast.

In the end it turned out that the possibility of a large division in the fleet was not too dangerous. The Holcim bounced off the Algerian coast, turned to Spain and converged again before its rivals.

While it is not as extreme as the WindWhisper Racing Team getaway at the head of VO65, there are similarities in the way the leaders of both fleets have drawn their own route to the east.

The platoon that remained near the Spanish coast approached Alicante so much that one might wonder if the race would end in the same place as it left six months ago. But no, the slow roasting of the ships left the central seat of The Ocean Race by port and continued to go up the Spanish coast, passing through Barcelona to the south of France.

With the forecast of low and variable winds on the road to Genoa, the forecast of the arrivals still has a high degree of uncertainty... WindWhisper is expected to arrive on Monday and the rest of the ships on Tuesday.

2023-06-24: The Ocean Race: Team Holcim-PRB takes advantage towards Genoa

The leading IMOCA seeks the African coast and returns with 10 miles of advantage... WindWhisper continues to dominate the VO65 fleet...

Team Holcim-PRB made a getaway to the Algerian coast on Friday night, leaving behind the fierce competition he had with the Biotherm and Team Malizia since before Gibraltar.

At one point, almost 100 miles were separated south, a risky business with the light and changing winds that govern the area. But surprisingly, when the ships converged again on Saturday morning off the Spanish coast, the situation had not changed much. Although the Holcim-PRB had made a net profit of about five or six miles, something important when the margins are so small, it seems a little reward for taking such a big risk.

But on returning to the Spanish coast (near the exit port of The Ocean Race in Alicante, completing the entire circumnavigation to the planet in the process), the patron Benjamin Schwartz has consolidated the little he had won and is now in a powerful position between the Biotherm, the Malizia and the goal in Genoa.

In the VO65 fleet, the WindWhisper Racing Team continues to sail its own race to the Grand Final in Genoa, with a good advantage over all the persecutors.

The team of the patron Pablo Arrarte, who has given up the charge to Daryl Wislang in this last stage, is 175 miles east of the rest of the fleet, and can leave the Balearic Islands by port, competing under conditions very different from those of others. And this is practically the only risk to the WindWhisper... in these light and changing conditions, you have to navigate your own race and be sure you can get to Genoa faster.

The Grand Final is fully prepared waiting for the arrival of the ships to offer the best Italian hospitality. The Ocean Live Park of Genoa lived an opening ceremony on Saturday morning before the official opening of Sunday.

2023-06-23: The Ocean Race: the fleet sails very well, already in the Mediterranean

Although the WindWhisper has a great advantage, the race is very hard for the rest of the ships

After a disturbing encounter with the orcas, but ultimately harmless, off the coast of Gibraltar on Thursday afternoon, the attention returns to the competition on Friday... and with all the ships already sailing in the Mediterranean, the action extends from Europe to Africa.

Embrace the North African coast is the WindWhisper Racing Team, which has seen its advantage, which at some times of the stage was imposing, reduced by more than 50 miles in the last 24 hours. They are still far ahead in the VO65 Sprint, ahead of the Mirpuri Trifork Racing and Team JAJO with over 100 miles of advantage, but for the first time in days, the ships in the tail are making significant progress, from across the Mediterranean, turning to the Spanish coast.

And the Austrian Ocean Racing boat powered by Team Genova is in battle, just a few miles behind Viva Mexico. The distribution in the IMOCA fleet is not comparable although here it is also a three-boat race. They are so equal that Team Holcim-PRB, Biotherm and Team Malizia have been first in the track at some point for the last 24 hours.

https: / / www.theoceanrace.com / en / scoreboard

From the 1300 UTC, the difference between the first and the last does not reach 10 miles and it seems that this three-way race will continue until the Grand Final in Genoa.

2023-06-22: The Ocean Race: the fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar

While the VO65 WindWhisper has escaped to the Mediterranean, Team Holcim-PRB is trying to maintain its position as leader of the IMOCA fleet towards the Strait of Gibraltar...

The WindWhisper Racing Team of Poland has lived 24 hours very profitable, as it has escaped from the rest of the ships competing towards the Grand Final in Genoa and has extended its advantage of more than 150 nautical miles over its closest pursuers in the VO65 fleet. The ship patrolled by Pablo Arrarte, who has delegated his position at this stage in Daryl Wishang, remains untreatable.

In the short term, however, the forecasts do not favour them. The wind is expected to decrease dramatically in the Western Mediterranean during the course of the day today before rolling from the west wind that has pushed them to the Mediterranean, to a east-northeast with which they will have to fight to advance towards Genoa.

The calm zone will also reach the persecute ships, who will need to fight this transition and with the unfavourable tide flow in the Strait of Gibraltar depending on when they will cross it. And a later arrival could mean another role and that the wind blows from the east, which would force them to close.

In the approach to Gibraltar, Team Holcim-PRB leads IMOCA, but in the 12: 00 UTC part was in danger of losing miles in front of Team Malizia, which is positioned further south and threatening to advance both the Holcim-PRB and the Biotherm.

These soft winds and something voluble are passing bill to the crews. In the VO65 Team JAJO, which currently fights with the Mirpuri / Trifork Racing Team for the second position in the VO65 Sprint, the night turned out to be disastrous.

2023-06-21: The Ocean Race: Windwhisper Racing Team headed for the Mediterranean

The Polish team has won a 90-mile advantage, taking the Mirpuri Foundation's Basque da Gama Award along the way...

This Wednesday, the Daryl Wislang leader led his WindWhisper Racing Team through the 37-degree line of north latitude at 10: 04 UTC as his team was preparing to turn east to face the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.

By crossing the 36 degrees of latitude in the head of both fleets, the Wislang team has won the Mirpuri Foundation's Vasco da Gama Award, which reflects the heritage of the great sailors of The Ocean Race. In this case, the navigator of the WindWhisper Racing Team, Aksel Magdahl, will receive the prize in Genoa.

The fleet still has more than 1000 nautical miles ahead of it to the finish line and very challenging conditions because the wind seems to be going to be very loose.

However, the WindWhisper has built a good advantage and should be in good shape for the approach to the Mediterranean Sea with the four ships that persecute it in the VO65 class at least 90 miles by its stern.

In the IMOCA fleet, Team Holcim-PRB is working hard to maintain its leadership, as both the Biotherm and Team Malizia continue to reduce their disadvantage.

Paul Meilhat's Biotherm is now 10 miles away, and Team Malizia has also gone back, about 33 miles behind.

The IMOCA, which left behind the VO65, are beginning to reach the tail ships of the 65's fleet, as the slow conditions that have accompanied them have not allowed the best performance of these foliating wonders.

Despite the conditions, the passage of the Strait of Gibraltar is scheduled for tomorrow... the fleet continues to advance, although slower than the teams wanted.

2023-06-20: The Ocean Race: Holcim, Biotherm and Malizia through the Rías Baixas of Galicia

The slow winds make the speeds still low for the IMOCA and VO65 fleets while they are gaining south along the west coast of the Iberian peninsula.

In the VO65 fleet, the WindWhisper Racing Team has done a very good job of maintaining an advantage of almost 60 miles over the next four ships, which are grouped in the chasing group and separated for less than 20 miles.

The forecast is that the conditions of low winds will continue, although from a far more favourable north-west direction, until the ships cross the Strait of Gibraltar next Thursday.

Before this, the first ship is expected to pass the latitude of the Basque trophy da Gama Foundation Mirpuri (37 degrees north), thus winning an award that will be awarded to the navigator of that team in Genoa.

2023-06-19: The Ocean Race... with the VO65 in front... the fleet to the northwest of the legendary Cape Finisterre

The VO65 continue to lead the descent to the south, towards Cape Finisterre and the coast of Portugal.

The advance is being very slow. The speed of the ships is almost always less than 10 knots and the doubt for those who make the decisions on board is grim: to go south with softer winds, or to go west, with more wind but away from the target.

As Richomme predicted, that initial advantage gained with so much effort is being eroded by both the Biotherm and Team Malizia, as both ships are further west and hold a little longer.

The story is repeated in the five VO65 and the three IMOCA in competition. The big challenge is to choose a route to the south that has enough wind to keep the ship in constant motion. Today, betting on the west seems to be paying off.

As the ships move south, they will finally reach the south-west end of Portugal before turning left and heading towards Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.

Extending from the tip of Portugal, along the 37 degrees of northern latitude, is the line of the Basque Prize da Gama of the Mirpuri Founding... that will be awarded to the first navigator of any of the classes that crosses this latitude. Here no points are given for the classification of the race, but the award will be given in Genoa during the night of the award of the Grand Final.

Meanwhile, the 11th Hour Racing Team is making good progress on its journey to Genoa... after leaving The Hague on Sunday night, the team is determined to arrive in Italy in time to participate in the In Port race.

2023-06-18: The Ocean Race: 11th Hour Racing Team continues its repair in The Hague

The Ocean Race... is being played in this repair... and in the view that the judges of the race will have... that in good logic will have to repair in score the ship damaged by the approach in The Hague

Both the IMOCA and VO65 fleet have already managed to leave the Channel and are entering the most open waters of the Gulf of Vizcaya.

The mission now is to leave the Gulf of Vizcaya to port and to travel the western coasts of Spain and Portugal before moving towards the Mediterranean.

After suffering a couple of days of very light winds, this Sunday has brought a breeze from light to moderate, but it comes from the south-south, which is precisely the direction to which they have to go, so we will have to make tactical decisions. More west is likely to be more wind, but it has the cost of sailing more miles... the Biotherm is fighting the low wind conditions

The VO65 fleet has moved more west than the IMOCA, especially the leader, the WindWhisper Racing Team, which is more than 70 miles west of the second classified, the Mirpuri-Trifork, and the Team JAJO, which is third.

The challenge for the WindWhisper pattern, Daryl Wislang, is to determine when it is the right time to turn and start winning miles south; in the 08: 00 UTC part, your team moves almost directly west and does not earn miles towards the goal.

Still in The Hague, Charlie Enright's team continues to work day and night on the repairs of his ship with the aim of reaching Genoa for the Grand Final... the team is expected to update its plans to reach the Grand Final in Genoa for the next 24 hours.

2023-06-17: The Ocean Race: 11th Hour Racing Team... hands to work to get to Genoa

The 11th Hour Racing Team, leader of the race, is forced to suspend the competition after suffering a coup of the Guyot environnement-Team Europe

After yesterday's unexpected collision, patron Charlie Enright and his 11th Hour Racing Team are working 24 hours a day to make the Imoca able to sail to Genoa.

In a team statement, Enright states: "We are working day and night to repair the ship as quickly as possible, and our intention is to sail to Genoa to meet with the fleet and complete this return to our blue planet. We are all obviously devastated, no one wants to finish a race like this, but the spirits within the team are high, and we all want to finish this incredible race with a high note."

The team officially withdrew yesterday from Stage 7 of The Ocean Race and submitted a request for repair. Withdraw from the stage and request compensation gives the team the best opportunity, within the rules of the event, to secure the points you need to win the race general.

The team's statement makes it clear that the 11th Hour Racing Team is working to repair its IMOCA, damaged when it was hit by Guyot Environnement - Team Europe shortly after the departure of stage 7 in The Hague.

The ground team and the technicians of the 11th Hour Racing Team worked all night on Thursday to assess the damage and start with the repairs. The goal is to sail to Genoa and participate in the Great Final.

The 11th Hour Racing came out on Thursday in the water after having won the last three stages of The Ocean Race and achieved a two-point advantage in the general ranking over Team Holcim-PRB, which is currently in front of the fleet, ahead of the Biotherm and Team Malizia, heading for Genoa in stage 7.

2023-06-16: The Ocean Race: Guyot addresses 11th Hour Racing... and the leader cannot continue

The 11th Hour Racing Team, leader of the race, is forced to suspend the competition after suffering a coup of the Guyot environnement-Team Europe

The leader of The Ocean Race, the 11th Hour Racing Team, has been forced to suspend the competition approximately 15 minutes after the departure of the last stage, after suffering great damage when they were hit by Guyot environnement-Team Europe.

The collision caused damage to both ships, who returned to the port of The Hague... the best thing is that there are no injuries, on both crews.

At first sight, it could be a violation of the rules by the Master Benjamin Dutreux's Guyot, who apparently did not see the ship of the 11th Hour Racing Team until it was too late.

"His ship appeared in front of me and it was too late," Dutreux admitted in the pants. "It was impossible to avoid contact (after seeing them). I take full responsibility. It's our fault, for sure."

For his part, the 11th Hour Racing Team pattern, Charlie Enright, said he tried to avoid an accident, but once he realized that the GUYOT was not changing course, it was too late.

About 20: 30 local time in The Hague, the Guyot Environnement-Team Europe announced that it was withdrawing from the stage and offered all its help to the 11th Hour Racing Team.