"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose..."
Team Holcim-PRB skipper is philosophical after leg 7 and heading into hearing day
Benjamin Schwartz was philosophical about leading leg seven for so much of the passage from The Hague to the Grand Finale. Team Holcim-PRB had sailed a great race up until the final windless night on the achingly slow approach to Genova. Coming third across the finish line behind Team Malizia and Biotherm was a bitter pill to swallow for the skipper of Team Holcim-PRB.
"That last night for sure is a bitter taste but we have to accept it, that's racing," said Schwartz. "We have to remember that we played very well for 12 days. And trying to push as much as we could to extend our lead. The situation of the weather in the Mediterranean meant our opponents could each time come back at us. Each day we tried to make a move to extend the lead again, because we knew that what happened on the last night was always a possibility.
"Unfortunately we couldn't gain enough of an advantage to make it to Genova first. But it's part of racing and if you're afraid to lose you then you shouldn't be doing this... Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, that's part of sailing."
Team Holcim-PRB are now leading overall in the points to win The Ocean Race, but Schwartz and his crew are well aware that there is an important jury hearing that is due to take place on Thursday morning. It's at this hearing on a Request for Redress that the outcome of the race will be decided. Will 11th Hour Racing Team be awarded sufficient compensation after being knocked out of the leg following a collision after the start in The Hague for the Americans to win overall?
"I have no idea on the technical side of the redress..." said Schwartz. "I don't know if they are going to be granted redress or not. But if they get granted, they deserve it and that's part of racing. There are rules. If you have an incident and it's proven that you should get redress then we would accept the result for sure and 11th Hour Racing Team will make a great winner of the race. And if not, we'll see what happens. In the past I have benefited from a redress situation, my Solitaire in 2019 for example, so I have no problem with that. We'll wait for the jury decision and accept it."