Oliver Heer’s Embrace the Challenge Team (SUI) sailed across the finishing line in Lorient in fifth place in the early hours of Friday morning, at 01:36:17 UTC / 03:36:17 CEST.
The team had a mixed experience in this inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic, positioning itself well with a strong start and good performance over the opening days of the race. But then a significant tear in their mainsail incurred during rough conditions halfway through the contest saw the Swiss boat slip behind the leaders and fall off the powerful weather system that powered the top rour finishers across the Atlantic.
Instead of battling for a podium position, the Embrace the Challenge crew was largely on its own for the second half of the race, racing in a postion behind the leaders but generally comfortably ahead of the non-foiling MSIG Europe team.
The team also found a measure of success in the Super Sprint series, posting two wins across the eight sprints and finishing in fourth place on the leaderboard.
“We’re a very happy crew,” said Heer, dockside after the early morning finish. “We learned loads on the race course. I think for our first race we achieved what we wanted. Being just 12 hours behind the winner in our first race in such a fleet is a good result…
“The first few days of the race went well, we had good pace and we found we could keep up with the fleet despite being the oldest foiling boat and the newest crew,” Heer said dockside after the finish. “But then we couldn’t find a good mode to sail in the second front… then the damage to the mainsail and we lost touch.”
“Before the conditions got really fruity we were right there and pretty confident, but when it got really windy and the sea state got up we started to drop back. We just couldn’t find the right mode to push the boat, so that’s a learning curve for us,” agreed Liz Wardley. “In hindsight, we had great conditions after we got the mainsail back up and managed to catch up to the fleet so that was good!”
Five boats in the six strong fleet are now dockside in Lorient, with MSIG Europe remaining out on the race course. With 280 miles to go, Kiwi Conrad Colman’s team is expected to finish on Saturday night.
The Ocean Race Atlantic Results and Stats
1. United by the Ocean (FRA) – 6 points
2. Team Francesca Clapcich powered by 11th Hour Racing (USA/ITA) – 5 points
3. DMG MORI Global One (JPN) – 4 points
4. Team Malizia (GER) – 3 points
5. Embrace the Challenge (SUI) – 2 points
6. MSIG Europe (NZL) – racing
