Jun 07, 2023
This Sunday in Aarhus, a city in Denmark, the in-port race corresponding to this last stage was held. The day dawned with enviable conditions, bright sunshine and growing wind perfect for sailing.
As a novelty and incentive for that day was the return to competition of the VO65 class boats, which we do not see compete since the beginning of the year. In addition to the VO65s, the IMOCA boats also competed, as they usually do before each new leg. In this case, given the tight overall classification, this in-port race is very important for the IMOCA teams as it adds points to the competition.
In this IMOCA class, the course they had to race was three laps in a rectangular shape.
As soon as the starting gun sounded, Biotherm took the lead, increasing speed and winning the start with ease. At the first mark, Biotherm was leading, Team Holcim-PRB second, the 11th Hour Racing Team third and Team Malizia fourth.
And so, just as they reached the first mark, the course ended. Biotherm was the clear winner of this in-port race. A very important victory for Biotherm, having lost the overall lead after arriving in Aarhus late on Saturday night following a difficult and frustrating transatlantic leg. This made his great performance all the more impressive and sensational, and it is worth noting that this was his first in-port race victory.
In the VO65 class, the WindWhisper Racing Team did not start in the best way, due to a bad maneuver that slowed them down a bit. On the other hand, Team JAJO had a better start with a perfect time/distance balance at the starting gun.
However, WindWhisper increased their speed quite a bit and made up positions to take the lead of the fleet. In the end, from the time they reached the first mark in the lead, they did not manage to take it off the lead. It is true that in the last legs it was very tight, but finally, the WindWhisper Racing Team, skippered by the Spaniard Pablo Arrarte, overtook Team JAJO at the finish line with a perfect performance.
The sixth leg for IMOCA and the second for VO65 starts this Thursday with the start from Aarhus. The next route for both is from Aarhus to The Hague, from Denmark to the Netherlands.