More than 50,000 visitors are said to have been on site on the day of the start of the first leg of The Ocean Race. The highlight was the departure ceremony. The individual teams sailed through the harbour to the boats as if they were entering an arena, accompanied by loud cheers from the packed crowd. But that wasn't all, the fans experienced the actual departure with even more emotion and excitement. With a countdown and their own individual "departure song", the farewell ceremony was a lot more of a show than you would normally expect from sailing.
While Team Malizia was the second Imoca to leave the dock, Susann Beucke from Team Holcim - PRB and others could be seen dancing to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". And everyone else could see the joy and euphoria - people cheering loudly and grinning faces far and wide.
Germany in sailing fever
It is not only among the sailors that the proportion of Germans in this edition is exceptionally high. Since the success of the last Vendée Globe, ocean sailing has become incredibly popular in Germany. The various components of media interest, suitable sponsors and German sailors seem to be perfectly interdependent. In addition to the four German professionals (Boris Herrmann, Susann Beucke, Robert Stanjek, Philipp Kasüske), we also met quite a few German-speaking visitors in Alicante on the previous days.
Nevertheless, we also want to take those who stayed at home on a tour of the Ocean Race harbour and offer everyone exclusive insights into the racing machines and the thoughts of their skippers shortly before the start. Come along:
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Max Gasser
Editor Test & Technology
