First event for new Ocean Race format
The first event run by the new organisers of the former Volvo Ocean Race, the Ocean Race Europe, finished in Genova this June. The Ocean Race Europe started on 29 May in Lorient, France, with stopovers in Cascais, Portugal, and Alicante, Spain before finishing in Italy.
Yoann Richomme skippered the Mirpuri Foundation VO65 to win from Chris Nicholson’s Akzonobel Ocean Racing, while the IMOCA 60 fleet was won by Robert Stanjek’s Offshore Team Germany ahead of Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team.
The race attracted some big names from the offshore racing world; Nicholson was joined by fellow Volvo veterans
Bouwe Bekking and Simeon Tienpont in the VO65S. Meanwhile the IMOCA fleet included Louis Burton on Bureau Vallée, racing with Pip Hare for some legs of the race, Sébastien Josse with Nicolas Troussel on the new Corum L’épargne, Thomas Ruyant and fellow Vendée racer, Clarisse Cremer on Linkedout, while British Olympian Annie Lush joined Stanjek on the winning German team.
The race was the first event for the two-fleet format, and also the first test of the IMOCA 60s in a fully-crewed (plus onboard reporter) set up, both of which will be used for the next around the world event, The Ocean Race. There were some teething problems, including a collision between 11th Hour Racing and a V065 as the two fleets came together at the finish of Leg 1, 11th Hour’s protruding foils making contact with a 65 to leeward.
In a separate incident 11th Hour Racing also narrowly avoided a high-speed collision with an anchored motorboat shortly after the start of Leg 2, apparently hooking the anchor chain with their foil and suffering damage as a result (there were no injuries in either incident).
However, the race delivered close competition, with final placings undecided until the last stages, tactical intrigue through the Mediterranean stages, and the usual supply of high quality onboard footage from both fleets.
The Ocean Race is set to start in the autumn of 2022.