A first edition with suspense
Offshore racing and coastal regattas made up the events of The Ocean Race Europe which welcomed for the first edition 12 boats (5 IMOCA and 7 VO65). On the program, more than 2,000 miles between Lorient and Genoa with stops in Cascais (Portugal) and Alicante (Spain).
For the first leg, the fleet was compact, and the finish was suspenseful. On the second leg, the crews encountered rough conditions in the Gulf of Gibraltar before finding calm in the Mediterranean. Finally, the last leg took place in light airs, before seeing the fleet tighten up at the finish.
At the end of these 3 weeks of sailing, the results were so close that the last coastal regatta would allow to decide between the crews.
The German crew for the IMOCA victory
In the IMOCA class, it was Robert Stanjek's old generation monohull, Offshore Team Germany, that won. No one would have bet on the victory of the daggerboard IMOCA, confronted with foilers, especially of the latest generation. However, the crew was in first place at the finish in Italy, after a very good race, with a victory in the coastal regatta of Cascais, a second place in the second leg and a victory in the last one.
Nothing was won, since two other IMOCA boats could claim victory, Thomas Ruyant's LinkedOut (13 points) and Charlie Enright's 11th Hour Racing Team (12 points), only 1 and 2 points behind the leaders.
It was finally in the very last moments of the race that the fate was sealed, Offshore Team Germany - of which the Frenchman Benjamin Dutreux was a member - was just a hair's breadth ahead of Thomas Ruyant's monohull. The crew thus wins this first edition of The Ocean Race, 11th Hour Racing Team takes the 2nd place on the podium, ahead of the LinkedOut crew by one point.
"I'm super happy. I've been preparing this team for four or five years, and I'm super happy to see that we've done so well. My idea of putting together a competitive team for The Ocean Race Europe was to combine Olympism with experienced offshore sailors, and that's what has paid off. We have improved every day, there is no ego on board, and everyone listens to each other and learns in a great atmosphere. I am very proud of the team" said the winning skipper at the finish.
Victory of the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team in VO65
In VO65, the Portuguese Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team won. The crew skippered by the Frenchman Yoann Richomme - favorite of the fleet - was in the lead throughout the first race before finishing last, but nevertheless won the last two legs. The Portuguese crew was followed throughout the race by the Dutch boat AkzoNobel Ocean Racing, but managed to gain a good lead over its competitors in the final race. Sailing Poland takes the 2nd place in the ranking, equal with AkzoNobel Ocean Racing.
"The job is done. Mission accomplished. I think we like to make life more complicated for ourselves. We lost the sail when we were hoisting it and I thought we were going to get passed by two boats. But we managed to get it up in time. We couldn't have finished on a better note. It was the best way for us to secure an overall win, so we are super happy! It's been a lot of hard work to get to this point... the hard work and training has paid off. The whole crew has been great. There's a lot of talent on this team, and I think we got the best out of everyone." said Yoann Richomme.
