While the anticipation of Christmas is building elsewhere, the Ocean Race crews are beginning the last hard period of work before the start of the Ocean Race on 15 January 2023. The crews of "Malizia - Seaexplorer", "Biotherm", "Holcim - PRB", "11th Hour Racing" and "Guyot Environnement - Team Europe" have arrived in Europe after their protagonists' solo participation in the Route du Rhum and the subsequent repatriation of their yachts. Everyone is now taking their boats apart again, checking and optimising them.
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The return to Alicante and other harbours revealed a lot, but by no means everything, about the future Ocean Race teams. It was also difficult to compare the teams' performances with each other, as they had left Guadeloupe at different times and were heading for Europe with different destinations and ports of call.
"It was another step," explains "Holcim - PRB" skipper Kevin Escoffier, who, like Boris Herrmann, took a break with his family while his crew brought the boat back across the Atlantic. Escoffier's assessment from the outside: "It looks good. The first step was to finish the Route du Rhum, the second was to arrive here in Alicante. Every step takes us forward. We were also the first boat back in Alicante, will do a quick refit before putting the boat back in the water on 1 or 2 January."
Dress rehearsal on the Atlantic: testing, stepping on the gas and training for The Ocean Race
This is also the plan for Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia. While the German skipper is currently taking a break for a family holiday, his crew is also back from the transatlantic test. After repairing the foil head suspension, the crew were able to push the new build harder over long stretches than their skipper did during the Route du Rhum. For the Ocean Race, the crew led by co-skipper Will Harris and with new additions Yann Eliès and Axelle Pillain tested a new sleeping rhythm, among other things, as Axelle Pillain reported in a video from on board.
The plan for Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia is clear for the last refit before the start of the Ocean Race: "Our motto for The Ocean Race is: The best optimisation is reliability. We are no longer planning any real conversions or changes. We had ideas for modifications, but have put them on ice again. In the weeks before the start, it's really just about taking the boat apart once and putting it back together again. We have to make sure that it is reliable."
Valuable lessons for Team Malizia: Stroop torn, genoa fell out of the mast
Boris Herrmann has been in daily contact with his team despite being on holiday. He will arrive in Alicante on the evening of 2 January. The crew told him a lot of positive things about the transatlantic return crossing: "Towards the end there was a strong downwind with a decent swell. Will told me that it was fantastic. The boat was totally under control." Team Malizia only took their foot off the accelerator towards the end of "leg 0" when there was a break on board. Herrmann says: "A strop broke and the small gennaker fell out of the mast. Of course, that can't happen to us in the race."
At Paul Meilhat's Team Biotherm, ex-match race world champion Mariana Lobato recalls her Ocean Race approach after the return transfer: "In 2015, I flew to Cape Town pregnant, visited the stopover and said to myself, 'Yes, this is what I really want to do'." The dynamic Portuguese mother of two says: "Sometimes they ask me if I'm sure this is what I want to do. Yes, I am sure. I'm not crazy. I'm going to do it."
Transatlantic fable time: "Charal" impresses on course for Europe
Jérémie Beyou's Team Charal will not be taking part in the Ocean Race due to other plans. Nevertheless, the black bull "Charal 2" has set new standards in its return to Europe: With558 nautical miles in 24 hours the new Imoca was travelling at breakneck speed, setting a new Imoca class record. Crew member Nicolas Andrieu reported: "The sheer speed, the brutality remain the incredible memory of this transatlantic experience."
Not yet in Alicante, but in Badalona near Barcelona, Guyot Environnement - Team Europe is preparing for the Ocean Race premiere with co-skippers Ben Dutreux and Robert Stanjek. In a Nautor Swan hangar, the team will put its Imoca into optimum fighting condition. In contrast to the other four new builds in the Ocean Race, the French-German alliance's Guyot boat is older, having been built as "Hugo Boss" for Alex Thomson and the 2016/2017 Vendée Globe. Nevertheless, it is considered to be very competitive.
Co-skipper Robert Stanjek: "I believe in the qualities of my team"
Robert Stanjek says: "Our boat is a bit heavier than the new builds. That also describes the light wind Achilles heel on the cross. We have a set of the latest foils. Paul Meilhat has the same ones. They are definitely up to date. Downwind, the new boats should be a bit faster than us. I think our boat is absolutely strong on the beam reach. The bottom line is that we may have a small performance disadvantage, but we still have to sail. I believe in the qualities of my team."
The instructive Imoca sailing pleasure on "Leg 0" from the Caribbean and some of the intensity to be expected in the Ocean Race is shown in this beautiful clip from Team Malizia:
