The last day of racing in this 14th edition of The Ocean Race took place at the Grand Finale in Genova on Saturday afternoon.
Sunny skies, very light and shifty winds and enthusiastic crowds on shore and on the water were the order of the day as this six month, around the world odyssey came to a close.
It was a day of celebration as well as competition with the afternoon and evening set aside for awards night and prizegiving ceremonies.
11th Hour Racing Team skipper Charlie Enright was delighted to be able to deliver a race win after all the effort it had taken to get his IMOCA ‘Mãlama’ repaired after it was hit by GUYOT environnement – Team Europe soon after the start of Leg 7 in The Hague.
“Our shore crew worked night and day for three days straight to be able to get us back on the water and able to take part in this Grand Finale In-Port Race,” he said.
“To be able to compete – and win the race today in Genova – we couldn’t ask for a better way to complete our lap of the planet and to show our thanks to everyone who has supported our campaign for the past few years.”
The race win ensured 11th Hour Racing Team would take the double victory – a win in the offshore around the world race, as well as the In Port Race Series.
IMOCA Webuild In Port Race Report
There was very little wind for the scheduled start of the IMOCA In-Port Race and after a brief delay, the start got away at 1415 hours.
All four boats were late to the start, but Team Malizia was first to cross the line and take the early lead in just 3 knots of wind.
Team Holcim-PRB started further to windward and seemed well placed initially. But as the fickle breeze shifted further to the right, the Swiss boat looked increasingly stranded. After poor starts from Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team, the French and American teams started to close the gap on the early leader, Team Malizia.
By Mark 1, Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm had closed the gap on the lead and was overlapped with Boris Herrmann’s boat. The black German boat managed to hold on to the lead but now the chase was on, with Biotherm in hot pursuit and Charlie Enright’s crew on 11th Hour Racing Team not far back in third. Benjamin Schwartz and Team Holcim-PRB were struggling to stay in touch with their rivals, the green boat a long way back in fourth place.
Around Mark 2, Malizia rounded up on to the breeze and were on port tack upwind. Biotherm tacked away from the leader to create a split and see if the French boat could find anything better than the Germans.
Eventually the Germans tacked too and on the next cross, Meilhat had closed distance on Herrmann. However Germany was still in the lead as the fleet drifted upwind, battling to keep the boats moving in almost no breeze.
Meanwhile, 11th Hour Racing Team decided to keep things simple, leaving the tacking duel to the front two while Enright kept his boat tracking on port tack on the city side of the race course. Hooking into more breeze on their side of the course, it looked like the Americans would move into the lead as their boat speed touched 6 knots, their rivals still looking slow further out to sea.
With the wind showing little sign of improving, the race was shortened at Mark 3. Now the outcome of the race would be decided on a port-starboard convergence between the Germans and the Americans to see who would cross ahead.
In the end, it was 11th Hour Racing Team who eased across the finishing line to steal the race win from Team Malizia, who had led for so long but had to settle for second. Biotherm held on for third place, which was good enough to lift the French to third overall ahead of Team Holcim-PRB in the In-Port Series.
The Ocean Race In-Port Series Final Leaderboard (IMOCA)
1. 11th Hour Racing Team – 29 points
2. Team Malizia – 25 points
3. Biotherm – 19 points
4. Team Holcim-PRB – 17 points
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe – 10 points