A big gamble paid off for two VO65 teams in the final hours of leg 3 of The Ocean Race Europe as Mirpuri Foundation and AkzoNobel proffitedThe third and final offshore leg of The Ocean Race Europe came to an exciting conclusion in the early hours of Thursday morning in Genova, when the Portuguese entry Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team pulled off a come-from-behind victory in the VO65 class.
\nIt was pitch black in Genova when the Portuguese team, led by French offshore skipper Yoann Richomme, finished the 600 nautical-mile (nm) \/ 1100-kilometre Mediterranean leg from Alicante, Spain at 00:51:57 local time, after around three and a half days of racing \u2013 predominantly in light and fickle winds \u2013 since leaving Alicante on Sunday.
\nHours earlier Richomme\u2019s crew \u2013 who started leg three tied on 11 points with AkzoNobel Ocean Racing at the top of the VO65 leader board \u2013 had been in third place, 10nm\/12km behind the long-time fleet leader Sailing Poland (POL), skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED), and four nautical miles adrift of the second placed Netherlands entry Team Childhood I, led by Dutchman Simeon Tienpont.
\nSensing that the breeze along the Italian coast would fade away as night fell, the Portuguese team made the bold decision to tack away from the fleet in search of new wind further offshore. It was a move that looked risky initially, especially given their heading initially appeared to be taking them away from the finish line.
\nUltimately the gambit paid huge dividends as they were eventually able to tack back towards Genova in the best breeze of the evening, and within a couple of hours had leapfrogged themselves into the lead.
\n\u201cWhat a comeback!\u201d Richomme exclaimed shortly after the finish. \u201cA crazy, crazy leg \u2013 it felt like two weeks of sailing. We fought hard. We knew that until the finish it wouldn\u2019t be over because Genova is complicated. It\u2019s more of a game of chess in these conditions than proper sailing.
\n\u201cThe crew was amazing, we kept on fighting all the way, very calm. Team Poland moved into the lead with a tiny move near Mallorca and we thought we would never get them back.
\n\u201cBut we knew there was a little move to do in the Gulf of Genoa. We knew it was the favoured side, but then all the others kept on moving inside the bay. We thought it wasn\u2019t going to happen for us and then suddenly things turned.
\n\u201cWe knew we were in the right position, but we didn\u2019t expect to overtake Team Poland and win it \u2013 we thought we would be fighting for second.\u201d
\nAlso benefitting from the offshore route was Chris Nicholson\u2019s AkzoNobel Ocean Racing.
\nAkzoNobel clawed their way up to second. Photo: Rosalin Kuiper\/AkzoNobel Ocean Racing\/The Ocean Race
\nThe Netherlands team was in fifth place before heading offshore in parallel with Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team, but soon moved up to second as the new breeze brought them powering in from the southeast at speeds over 13 knots, overtaking Erik Brockmann\u2019s Viva Mexico (MEX), Team Childhood I, and Sailing Poland to take second place.
\n\u201cThis was a big relief,\u201d Nicholson said moments after stepping off the AkzoNobel boat. \u201cWe got ourselves behind early on in this leg and when that happens all you hope for is another chance. Fortunately, there was plenty of opportunity to be had today and we grabbed hold of several of them.
\n\u201cThere was plenty of thought that went into it. Our routing and everything we had told us to go the way we did go. But sailor\u2019s instinct would have sent us closer to the shore. For once, I listened to the science, and in the end we chose what we thought had the best chance of success.\u201d
\nIn contrast to the excitement aboard the first two finishers, there will be disappointment for the Sailing Poland crew who had led the VO65s since early in the leg, but as a result of the late-stage re-shuffle appear likely to drop back to third place and are the next team expected to finish overnight.
\nThe remaining VO65 teams will finish in the coming hours, although their results for leg three will not change the order of the top three teams.
\nMirpuri Foundation Racing Team consolidates its position at the top of the leader board on 18 points, with AkzoNobel Ocean Racing second on 17 points.
\nThis sets up Saturday\u2019s final coastal race \u2013 where points will be awarded to the top three teams only (3 points for a win, 2 points for second, 1 point for third) \u2013 as a showdown to decide the overall VO65 class standings in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe.
\nThe IMOCA 60 fleet is expected to start arriving in Genova from early afternoon local time. At 0430 local the leader, Robert Stanjek\u2019s Offshore Team Germany (GER), had 50nm still to race, with Charlie Enright\u2019s American entry 11th Hour Racing Team a further 35nm back in second, and Thomas Ruyant\u2019s LinkedOut (FRA) around three miles further back in third.
\nYou can follow the progress of the teams still racing on the live tracker at: theoceanrace.com\/en\/europe\/racing\/tracker<\/p>\n
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A big gamble paid off for two VO65 teams in the final hours of leg 3 of The Ocean Race Europe as Mirpuri Foundation and AkzoNobel proffitedThe third and final offshore leg of The Ocean Race Europe came to an … <\/p>\n