The podium of this first leg of The Ocean Race, the crewed round-the-world race from Alicante to Cape Verde, is being determined. The top three places in the Imoca 60 class are official, with Holcim PRB, skipper Kevin Escoffier, winning ahead of 11th Hour Racing, skipper Charlie Enright, and Malizia skippered by Boris Herrmann taking third place. A good result for Italian sailing as well since on 11Th Ocean Racing in the crew is also Francesca Clapcich from Trieste, on her second round-the-world crewed trip.
Among the VO65s at the finish line, victory went to Wind Wishper, with the rest of the podium being the preserve of Team Jajo and Austrian Racing Team Genova, on which Italians Albero Riva and Cecilia Zorzi are sailing, in fourth place.
The Ocean Race – What a stage Leg 1 was.
A rather tough first leg, due to the windward gale faced by the two fleets before the exit from Gibraltar, with westerly winds even over 40 knots and very challenging seas. Once in the Atlantic, the stage became lightning fast, with a descent to the south and a quick entry into the Trade Wind that pushed the boats all the way to the finish line in Cape Verde.
The Imoca 60s are confirmed as ocean machines., which develop even higher performance in crewed racing than in solo racing, and may be the boats that will relaunch this regatta because of the spectacle they are capable of providing and the design challenge these ocean foilers represent.
VO65, on the other hand, will momentarily exit the scene after Leg 1 and then return in the last two legs, and play for the Sprint Cup of this The Ocean Race coming to Genoa next June.
The Ocean Race – Best videos from the first leg
The Stages
From Alicante, the race will head for Cape Verde, where VO65s will also arrive, then Cape Town in South Africa, from where the third leg, the Southern Ocean leg, will depart to Itajai, Brazil, via Cape Horn. The fleet will sail up to Newport before returning to Europe: Aarhus in Denmark, Kiel in Germany (flying finish), The Hague in the Netherlands and finally the finish in Genoa. VO65s will also participate in the last two, which with the first will award the Sprint Cup of The Ocean Race for the VO65 category.
