The opening harbour race in the 14th The Ocean Race is over. It began with a powerful reaching section, during which the boats reached 20 knots and more speed and also took off. Afterwards, however, the wind dropped more and more. "It was an interesting race with lots of lead changes," said "Guyot Environnement" co-skipper Robert Stanjek from Berlin. His French-German team with skipper Benjamin Dutreux was able to work its way up to second place after a good start. They finished in fourth place. In total, four of the five Imocas held the lead at least once during the race.
The harbour races could play an important role in the final standings ...
Boris Herrmann and his crew were the beaming winners of the battle of nerves on 8 January. Just four days earlier, Team Malizia had had to give their boat new foils, which have so far proved to be good and suitable. With a successful choice of sails, a lot of concentration, Nico Lunven at the helm and Boris Herrmann as floater, the opening coup off Alicante was a success.
Even if the harbour races are not directly included in the ranking of the circumnavigation, the position of the teams in the overall ranking of the harbour races can be of great importance. If teams are tied on points at the end of the circumnavigation, the better position in the in-port race ranking is decisive. Which is why all teams are happy to take these points with them.
Boris Herrmann was also delighted with his success, although he had somewhat superstitiously pointed out before the start of the harbour race that you don't actually want to win an inaugural race. That didn't stop him from winning. One week before the start of the first leg of his Ocean Race premiere in the first Import Race, the 41-year-old from Hamburg not only has a tenacious team on board. Butch Dalrymple Smith, a historic Ocean Race winner, was also on board as a guest.
Butch Dalrymple Smith: 50 years after his maiden victory with "Sayula II", he finishes first again
The former chief designer of Camper & Nicholson, former partner of Ron Holland and first winner of the 1973/1974 Whitbread Round the World Race with the Mexican Ramón Carlin on his "Sayula II", obviously brought the winning spirit of yesteryear with him. After Team Malizia's success in the harbour race, Butch Dalrymple Smith said on board with a wink that he was almost a little embarrassed by the victory because he would be the one honouring the winners on Sunday evening. And thus, 50 years after the Whitbread triumph with the Mexicans around Ramón Carlin, also himself ...
This first harbour race has not yet revealed much about the strengths and weaknesses of the Imocas and their crews in the 14th The Ocean Race. The winds were too light and unstable for any meaningful conclusions to be drawn.
Top favourites stumble over their own mistakes
It was clear to see how top favourite 11th Hour Racing pulled away powerfully at the start. Just as obvious was the mistake the crew made in the absence of their skipper Charlie Enright, who took himself out of the race as a precaution after testing positive for Covid.
After an impressive start, the 11th Hour Racing team overcame a jetty to such an extent that they lost several places as the leading boat. After a successful race to catch up, they finally managed to finish in second place ahead of Paul Meilhat's "Biotherm". Kevin Escoffier's Team Holcim - PRB took last place behind fourth-placed Guyot Environnement - Team Europe, despite being in the lead at one point.
Nico Lunven confident at the tiller, Boris Herrmann flexible as a floater
While more than 90 per cent of the autopilots used in the race around the world were still taking a break during the harbour race, Nico Lunven made a confident and calm impression on board "Malizia - Seaexplorer" at "Malizia's" long tiller. The Frenchman repeatedly conferred with skipper Boris Herrmann, who was very agile as a floater. The crew work on board "Malizia - Seaexplorer" below deck also looked like a control panel - well coordinated and effective. Overview and ergonomics were perceived as a success factor in the team under the German flag.
The harbour race for the fleet of six VO65s earlier in the afternoon was even more bizarre. Only the WindWhisper Racing Team had reached the finish line in the agonisingly light winds within the time limit and thus secured six points. All other five teams came away empty-handed with zero points. The fleet of VO65 yachts is only contesting three of the seven legs around the world under the Ocean Race umbrella. Their competition is called The Ocean VO65 Sprint Cup.
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
