The Ocean Race: US team soon on course for Genoa, trio of stages in the doldrums

After 11th Hour Racing officially abandoned the seventh and final leg due to the serious collision and the damage to be repaired, the Americans have set their sights on the fastest possible transfer and are about to cast off in The Hague. Meanwhile, ashore, they are still waiting for the organisers to set a date for the hearing of the US claim for compensation.

"Mālama" repaired in less than 72 hours

Since the collision on 17 June, the US team's shore crew has been working around the clock in shifts to get the boat ready not only for the transfer to Genoa, but also for the final in-port race. The work was completed in less than 72 hours despite serious damage such as a huge hole in the rear port hull. The team announced that they might be able to leave the port of call in The Hague this Sunday evening. Before that, "Mālama" must undergo the non-destructive testing procedure. This is the only way to ensure that the structure of the boat is intact.

The sailors from the seventh leg will be on board again for the transfer to Genoa: the American skipper Charlie Enright, the British navigator Simon Fisher, the Australian-British trimmer Jack Bouttell, who, like his fellow sailors, shed tears after the crash, and the Italian Francesca Clapcich. They are joined by the American on-board reporter Amory Ross.

It was a monumental task" (Charlie Enright)

"Our team has been working around the clock for three days to repair our boat. Once we pass the final non-destructiveness tests this afternoon, we will get the green light to take the boat to Genoa," said skipper Charlie Enright (USA). "It's been a monumental task, but the whole team has risen to the challenge. It's a race against time and the final hurdle will be the weather on the way to Genoa, but we will do everything we can to be there for the Grande Finale and the final in-port race on 1 July."

James O'Mahony, the team's boat captain, reported on the repair marathon: "Immediately after the incident and once we had ascertained that all crew members were uninjured, the priority for the sailors was to get the boat to safety and to the quay so that the team ashore could fully assess the damage. To do this, we had to remove all the damage, the Nomex core, the deck and the foam to restore the original undamaged structure."

It's a bit like carving puzzle pieces that are then put together" (James O'Mahony)

The expert continued: "We then liaised with our designers to understand exactly what structure needed to be restored and how many layers of laminate would be required to rebuild everything. We then built the pieces on a table in the crew base and took them to the boat to mould them to fit back into the boat - a bit like carving jigsaw pieces to fit together. We put all the structural elements of the deck back in - the unidirectional fibres that stiffen the boat, the core and the whole laminate. It took many, many steps to make the boat not only seaworthy again, but also suitable for racing."

The 11th Hour Racing Team leads the overall standings ahead of the final stage, two points ahead of the Swiss team Holcim - PRB and six points ahead of the German team Malizia. The team is also three points ahead of Team Malizia and eight points ahead of Biotherm in the In-Port Race classification.

It remains to be seen when the application for compensation will be heard

The 11th Hour Racing Team has applied to the international jury of World Sailing for compensation for the crash caused by Team Guyot and the technical and sporting consequences. The parties involved will be informed of a date for the hearing and the trial in due course, according to the monotonous answer that can be heard from all directions these days when asked. Only rarely does it take as long as in this case for a date to be communicated at all.

The relevant international jury is appointed by the relevant organisation - in this case The Ocean Race - and approved by the governing body, World Sailing. The Jury is made up of experienced rules experts whose job it is to hear and consider the accounts and evidence from all sides of an incident and make a decision in accordance with the Racing Rules of Sailing.

Stage trio struggles with flat winds

Meanwhile, the Ocean Race organisers have announced that 11th Hour Racing will also be available to follow on the tracker during the passage to Genoa. Although the Americans can no longer compete for the stage win, they are sailing their own exciting race against the clock. According to current route planning, the boat is due to arrive at the finish port on 30 June - an extremely tight affair in view of the harbour race.

There have been hardly any changes to the positions in the current leg. Team Holcim - PRB continued to lead the fleet, which had shrunk to three Imocas, on Sunday afternoon with just under 1,700 nautical miles to Genoa in the Bay of Biscay. They were followed by Team Biotherm, 16 nautical miles behind, and Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia, 40 nautical miles behind the leaders.

With poetic greetings from the Malizians on stage seven:

Team Guyot's skipper and unlucky helmsman Ben Dutreux explains his team's withdrawal from leg seven, thanks all the teams for their support and bows once again to 11th Hour Racing. He announced that his entire team would be in Genoa for the finale:

Click here for the live tracking with the intermediate results of stage seven.