“It’s a dream to sail a transatlantic race covering more than 3,000 miles and finish just a few minutes apart,” says Frankie Clapcich following the Ocean Race Atlantic. The skipper of “11th Hour Racing” is thus putting into words what characterised the inaugural edition of the team transatlantic race from the USA to France: an ocean race that, in its final hours, turned into an Olympic-style match race.
The lead changed hands more than 25 times, with six IMOCs from a wide range of generations battling their way through strong winds, lulls and tricky tactical situations. In the end, just 8 minutes and 56 seconds separated the winner, “United by the Ocean”, and “11th Hour Racing”. For Paul Meilhat and his crew, it was a triumph in the skipper and navigator’s home country. For Clapcich, despite the missed opportunity, the joy of finishing second outweighed the disappointment: “Six hours earlier, we wouldn’t have dared to hope for this result. So we’re absolutely delighted.”
Meilhat himself attributes his success less to tactical feats than to consistent boat and crew management. During the strong-wind sections, he says, it was not a matter of ‘tactical sleight of hand’, but of prudence – ensuring the boat and crew made it safely through the trough. The Frenchman knows the strengths and weaknesses of his IMOCA, built in 2022, inside out. Under its former name, ‘Biotherm’, it had carried him to victory in the Ocean Race Europe the previous year; in the last Vendée Globe, he sailed it to fifth place.
“When racing in stronger conditions, some boats are faster than us,” says Meilhat, looking back. “We tried to keep up, manage the boat and maintain our chance of victory.” His hope was for a final in light winds. That was precisely where “United by the Ocean” could play to its strengths.
Contrasting concepts
Despite the collision with what is thought to be a whale or a large fish, Boris Herrmann gives a positive assessment of “Malizia 4”’s first Atlantic stress test. “Our boat is incredibly fast upwind. And when reaching, too,” he says. “We’re not quite as fast on a broad reach or in rough seas yet. We haven’t had much of that so far. We still need to learn that.”
A comparison with the “DMG Mori Global One” shows just how differently the two new boats are designed. The “DMG Mori” achieved an average speed of 16.89 knots, whilst the “Malizia 4” reached 16.95 knots despite its damaged foil. Herrmann: “The two boats are quite different in their performance profiles: we’re fast upwind, whilst they’re fast downwind.”
This was already evident in the early stages, when ‘Malizia 4’ made significant ground on the Japanese IMOCA. Meilhat would nevertheless probably opt for Herrmann’s new boat: ‘The design is really interesting; the boat is probably more versatile.’
For Meilhat, the technical teams’ performance is at least as remarkable as the sporting outcome: “It’s incredible for new boats to cross the Atlantic twice so soon after their launch. That would have been unthinkable five years ago!”
Herrmann also highlights the teamwork on board. “We fought hard every single moment, never took our foot off the accelerator and worked brilliantly together as a team,” says co-skipper Cole Brauer. Herrmann speaks of the “privilege of working with these world-class sailors”.
He wholeheartedly congratulates Meilhat on his victory: “He deserves it. He’s a hero to me, one of the best sailors. I’m really delighted for him that he and his crew have managed to pull this off in such a brilliant way with that old boat.” The success could also help secure the funding for Meilhat’s participation in the Ocean Race round the world. The start is scheduled for 17 January in Alicante. Before that, the Route du Rhum is due to take place from 1 November – featuring, amongst others, Boris Herrmann and ‘Malizia 4’.
The other crews are also learning from this
For “11th Hour Racing”, the finale was particularly bitter. Shortly before the finish, the crew – comprising Clapcich, Will Harris, Alberto Bona and Elodie-Jane Mettraux – had led the field for almost three hours. Victory seemed within reach. “When you get that close to victory, you just want to win, don’t you?” says Clapcich.
Oliver Heer and his team on “Embrace the Challenge”, by contrast, experienced a race marred by a sudden setback. The ex-“Charal”, built in 2018, had got off to a good start, but a huge tear in the mainsail forced the Swiss crew to carry out a lengthy repair. Two wins in the Supersprints were only a small consolation. In the strong wind conditions, the team also failed to find the optimal settings. “This is a learning curve for us,” says Heer.
The fact that Conrad Colman’s ageing, non-foiling yacht ‘MSIG Europe’ was the last to cross the finish line came as no surprise, however. ‘The crazy Kiwi’ draws his energy from adventure, developing young talent and the shared experience out on the ocean.
It is precisely this sense of community that the winning team embodies with its slogan ‘United by the Ocean’. The inaugural event has shown that even a team with a more modest budget can achieve great things.
The highlights of the race: ‘Malizia 4’ gets off to a flying start
In early September, a small but high-calibre fleet gathers off the coast of New York for the first Ocean Race Atlantic. At this stage, no one has any idea what is about to unfold on the Atlantic over the next eight days.
Fans of Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia won’t have to wait long for their first success. The ‘Malizia 4’, which is barely two months old, is storming to the front of the field. The ‘DMG Mori Global One’, which was launched at the beginning of July, is also considered a favourite. It now remains to be seen how the Koch design and the Verdier design will fare in direct competition.
Herrmann started by winning the first of eight 20-minute Supersprints held each day. However, as these short races – incorporated into the Atlantikhatz as a spectator attraction – are subject to varying conditions depending on the boats’ positions, they are only a rough indication of the yachts’ performance potential.
In the early stages of the race, “Malizia 4” is indeed the fastest boat in the fleet. According to the tracker, she covered a sensational twelve nautical miles during the third supersprint. Extrapolated from the 24-hour record of 641.13 nautical miles set by its predecessor, ‘Malizia 3’, in the Ocean Race round the world, this would theoretically result in a daily distance of 864 nautical miles. However, this sprint performance cannot be sustained over the long term on the Atlantic.
One thing is clear, however: ‘Malizia 4’ can really apply the pressure, particularly when sailing close to the wind.
The setback after two and a half days
Two and a half days after the start, of all boats, the old ‘Malizia 3’ overtakes its younger sister. As ‘11th Hour Racing’, with skipper Francesca Clapcich on board, it takes the lead in the increasingly strong and stormy winds of a low-pressure system. At first, it seemed as though the former workhorse was showcasing its well-known strength.
Then Team Malizia receives a breaking news report from on board: ‘Malizia 4’ is thought to have collided with a whale or a large fish. The port-side foil system has been damaged.
“The foil is mounted in two bearings, one at the top and one at the bottom. The bottom one is on the hull, so you can adjust the angle of the foil – the rake,” explains Herrmann. “The upper one is moved back and forth by the hydraulic cylinder. It was pushed forwards by the impact and tore away where it was bolted to the bulkhead. That’s dangerous.”
Under time pressure, the crew searched for a solution. Herrmann later described the emergency repair as follows: “We reduced the foil rake to a minimum, effectively compressing everything with the cylinder. This allowed us to lock the foil at that angle. However, this meant the angle of attack was now negative, so the foil no longer generated any lifting force. We were at minus one degree.”
The collision and repairs take the crew around two hours. Afterwards, they have to relearn how to sail the boat, which had only just been optimised. The competition overtakes them, and the gap to ‘11th Hour Racing’ quickly widens to 50 nautical miles and later even to 120 nautical miles.
“We tried tilting the boat more so that the bow would lift up on its own,” says Herrmann. “But we had to be travelling at least 20 knots for the foil to have any effect at all. If you slow down, the boat hangs at an angle and can’t get going again. You have to ease the mainsheet metre by metre and then pull it in again. That made things difficult for us.”
Strong winds, high waves and a tricky high-pressure system
As the crew on the ‘DMG Mori’ have yet to find their rhythm in the early days, the two 2022 IMOCA yachts, ‘United by the Ocean’ and ‘11th Hour Racing’, are initially sailing ahead of the new boats. With strong Atlantic winds of up to 40 knots, they set the pace for two days.
Halfway through the race, the crews encounter strong winds and rough seas. Sleeping, eating and every movement on board become a challenge. The leading quartet then set their sights on the high-pressure ridge, which is moving across the course from north-west to south-east. Initially, the high-pressure system moves only slowly. Team Malizia opts for the sharpest northerly turn to avoid the high-pressure area.
“We had hoped that this would allow us to emerge at a slightly better angle, rather than being drawn into the centre of the high,” explains Herrmann. The extra loop adds to the distance in nautical miles and, initially, is not rewarded by the shifting winds. The calm zone is passing beneath the fleet more quickly than expected.
However, the teams further south are also struggling with the difficult conditions between the passing low-pressure system and the wind that is only just building up again. As a result, the four frontrunners are closing the gap on one another once more. ‘DMG Mori Global One’ is now in the lead.
The comeback of ‘Malizia 4’
On the day before the final, “Malizia 4”’s deficit had shrunk from 240 to 40 nautical miles. On a reaching course, the black-and-red foiler has even picked up speed significantly once again. In winds of 15 to 16 knots, it is reaching top speeds of more than 30 knots and four-hour averages of over 20 knots.
However, it is not enough to regain the lead. Kojiro Shiraishi, Samantha Davies, Nico Lunven and Arisa Moriya defend their position on the “DMG Mori Global One”. Just as everything seems to be pointing towards a Japanese victory, a nail-biting drama unfolds off the coast of Brittany in France.
The finale before Penmarch
On 10 September, the wind is only light during the final hours of the Transat. At 6.30 am on the morning of the final leg, ‘Malizia 4’ is still 25 nautical miles behind ‘DMG Mori’. Nevertheless, Herrmann and his crew launch their attack and are closing in on the leading trio.
At the northern entrance to the Bay of Biscay, just before Penmarch, ‘11th Hour Racing’ and ‘United by the Ocean’ initially catch up with the Japanese team. Travelling two knots faster, they overtake the Kojiro crew. The latter’s hopes of finding thermals closer to the coast are not fulfilled.
For almost three hours, “11th Hour Racing” led the race with Frankie Clapcich, Will Harris, Alberto Bona and Elodie-Jane Mettraux. Then it was “United by the Ocean”’s turn to take the lead. A split in the fleet off the Glénan Islands marked the decisive turning point: ‘11th Hour’ passes the islands to the south, whilst ‘United by the Ocean’ and the two chasing boats take the northern route. Meilhatt’s team handles the Breton breeze best and secures victory in the skipper and navigator’s home town.
After 7 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes and 11 seconds, “United by the Ocean” was the first to cross the finish line. The team with the smallest budget among the top four has won the inaugural Ocean Race Atlantic.
Just 8 minutes and 56 seconds later, “11th Hour Racing” followed. Shortly afterwards, in their final challenge to “DMG Mori”, Team Malizia almost pulled off “the little miracle of Lorient”. “Right up until just before the finish, we thought we might still manage third place,” says Herrmann. “Because, in my experience, ‘DMG’ is really slow downwind and in light winds. We were always doing about 12 knots, whilst they were doing 10. Our boat is fast in light winds.”
In the end, they were less than half a mile short of a podium place. Just five minutes after ‘DMG Mori Global One’, ‘Malizia 4’ crossed the finish line in fourth place.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter