MADRID, 8 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Team Malizia and WindWhisper took the victory this Sunday in Alicante, the starting port of the Ocean Race on its fiftieth anniversary, in an ‘In-Port Race’ marked by a light wind that became a challenge for the IMOCA fleets and VO65.
The Ocean Race returns with the purpose of promoting the health of the oceans and welcoming the high-tech IMOCA fleet to the race, along with the VO65s that will celebrate their third edition. In addition, nearly 50,000 fans enjoyed the first days of the regatta at Ocean Live Park.
German Team Malizia put up a close fight with four of the five IMOCAs taking the lead at some point. The best start, with about 9 knots of wind, was made by the French Biotherm, skippered by Paul Meilhat.
Then there was a nice exchange with Team Holcim-PRB and GUYOT Environnement – Team Europe, until it was time for Team Malizia and the 11th Hour Racing Team, with the last blow from the German boat. “This win is great, we had to work very hard to get to the start line of this race as we had to replace the foils last week,” said Team Malizia crew member Will Harris.
“It was a very difficult race. The wind was between 2 and 15 knots. I think we showed that we are quite adaptable. We can adjust this boat very well and we have worked hard to set it up,” he added. 11th Hour Racing Team was second and Biotherm crossed the finish line third.
In addition, the WindWhisper Racing Team crossed the finish line of the VO65 In-Port Race in Alicante by a comfortable margin, under the direction of Spanish Pablo Arrarte (ESP), with the other five boats outside the 15-minute time limit that he started running the moment WindWhisper crossed the finish line.
With just four knots of wind, the start was even, but WindWhisper’s more leeward position pushed the Polish boat into first position. “We are very happy to win the In-Port Race,” said the Spanish skipper, who has participated in the regatta four times. “It was very complicated, the wind didn’t help much, but ‘Ñeti’ was totally right at the start and put us in a good place, which made victory a bit easier,” he added.
The winner took 6 points and the rest none, sole dominance and spread wins when Stage 1 of 1,900 nautical miles of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup begins in a week’s time, departing from Alicante to Cape Verde.