Team Malizia wins Newport In Port Race and leads fleet towards the open Atlantic
As The Ocean Race fleet passed through the Newport, Rhode Island leaving gate it was Team Malizia, just ahead of 11th Hour Racing Team, followed by Team Holcim-PRB and Biotherm.
The transatlantic leg to Aarhus, Denmark is a double-points scoring race. With three teams within one point at the top of the leaderboard, Leg 5 is shaping up as a very important step towards overall race victory.
Newport In Port Race Results
1. Team Malizia
2. 11th Hour Racing Team
3. Team Holcim-PRB
4. Biotherm
5. GUYOT environnement – Team Europe – did not start
The overall race leader, Kevin Escoffier’s Team Holcim-PRB, is racing with a new mast. The team has barely had time to test the new spar, a couple of hours of sailing yesterday before the inclement weather set in.
“Obviously the first few days, we will have to regain confidence in our rig, even if the work of the technical team has been impressive,” Escoffier said. “In just a few days, we’ve managed to get a boat back into an impressive state of performance and racing, but all the boats are progressing.
11th Hour Racing Team has just put back its pair of V2 foils and has just put on new sails.
Team Malizia has improved in speed. We will have to be at 100% of our skills, at 100% of the boat to hope to win in Aarhus. That’s normal. It’s a very high level race, and that’s why we’re here.”
For Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm, this double-points leg could be a final opportunity to get back into the podium race.
Currently five points adrift of the top three, a victory on this leg would go a long way to changing the conversation.
IMOCA Leaderboard – after Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Leg 4 – Total pts
1st Team Holcim – PRB Team Holcim – PRB – – 5 5 9 0 – 19 pts
2nd 11th Hour Racing Team 11th Hour Racing Team – – 4 3 6 5 – 18 pts
3rd Team Malizia Team Malizia – – 3 2 9 4 – 18 pts
4th Biotherm Biotherm – – 2 4 4 3 – 13 pts
5th GUYOT environnement – Team Europe GUYOT environnement – Team Europe – – 1 1 0 0 – 2 pts
