Countdown!! 100 days to the start of The Ocean Race

100 days before the start of the opening leg of The Ocean Race 2022-23 on January 15, 2023 we check in with the five registered IMOCA teams for an update on where they are with their preparations for racing 32,000 nautical miles (nm) / 60,000 kilometres (km) around the world.

The skippers of four of those teams – Germany’s Boris Herrmann Team Malizia (GER), along with Frenchmen Benjamin Dutreux GUYOT environnement – Team Europe (FRA), Paul Meilhat on Biotherm Racing (FRA), and Kevin Escoffier on Holcim – PRB (SUI) – have the additional challenge of taking on the solo Route du Rhum transatlantic race from France to Guadeloupe starting on November 6.

All four will use the return trip as a chance to sail in fully-crewed configuration on the way back across the Atlantic to Alicante, Spain host city for the start of The Ocean Race.

According to Will Harris (GBR) – co-skipper with the German entry Team Malizia – in parallel with the work to prepare their state-of-the-art IMOCA raceboat for a fully-crewed lap of the planet, the crew has also been working on their onboard food plan for the opening legs of the race.

“The preparation of the boat is super important right now, but we are also packing the food for the first leg and making a plan for the rest of the race.

“During the race we will be at sea for long periods of time and when we get to the stopovers we are not going to have much time to recover and prepare for the next one. So the more of this sort of forward planning, the better.”

Although the international crew – led by German skipper Boris Herrmann – is a little behind where they had planned to be at this stage, according to Harris, he is confident they will make up time in the coming weeks.

“There is so much that goes into getting the boat to a state where it is as fast – but also as reliable – as possible. The longer we spend working on the boat the clearer everything becomes: how we are going to sail it, how we are going to adapt it to being pushed harder by a crew.

“The fact that we are slightly behind is going to push us further and make us work harder to be ready for the startline in Alicante.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Escoffier (FRA), skipper of the Swiss flagged Holcim – PRB syndicate, told us that with 100 days to go to the start of his third tilt at The Ocean Race there were still plenty of tasks for he and his team to tick off.

A key priority for Escoffier is to finalise the list of sailors he has selected to race alongside him in the 2022-23 edition. The core crew has been chosen but some details relating to the last few legs of the race are still to be confirmed.

Overall, Escoffier described the mood in the Holcim – PRB camp as highly positive.

“We are focused and excited about the journey we have in front of us. Personally, I am looking forward to coming back to The Ocean Race after the 2014-15 and 2017-18 editions and being on the startline with my own Holcim – PRB team.

Having been the last team to launch their brand new IMOCA, Paul Meilhat (FRA) – skipper of the French team Biotherm Racing – is well aware of the challenge his squad faces to be fully ready in Alicante next January.

As well as having remedied damage to a winch pod sustained during the recent Défi Azimut regatta in Lorient, France, the Biotherm Racing shore team have been working their way through an extensive jobs list on the Guillaume Verdier-designed, Persico-built yacht.

Meilhat also found time to complete a 1,200 nm / 2,222 km solo passage aboard the boat which qualified the team for the Route du Rhum.

“From now until next July I think we have a very full agenda,” he said. “But we relish the challenge and we have a great team that can deal with it.”

GUYOT environnement – Team Europe co-skipper Robert Stanjek said that the French flagged team – winners of last year’s inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe – was ‘in a good mode’, despite being on a steep learning curve towards the start of the race.

“The sailing team has known each other well for a long time. We are a cooperation of two racing teams – a French one and a German one – and it’s cool to bring these nationalities together.

“There is an enormous amount of work and planning to do and we hope that we can keep track of everything. Even though we have pressure with some of the timelines, we have a great atmosphere and we are enjoying working and growing together.”

Having already racked up around 8,000 nautical miles of open ocean sailing aboard their well-proven IMOCA Mālama since May this year, the American entry 11th Hour Racing Team will concentrate on local training sessions from its French base in the lead up to delivering the boat to Alicante in December.

“We have a two-week block of training in October and that will include some sessions at the Pôle Finistère training centre at Port-la-Forêt,” the team’s skipper Charlie Enright (USA) told us.

That training will see the US-flagged boat line up against some of the top solo IMOCA teams – providing a useful benchmark according to Enright.

“It’s great for us because even though we are not part of the single handed calendar, we still get a lot of sparring with other boats.”

Race rules require the teams to assemble in Alicante by a deadline of January 2, 2023. Other than GUYOT environnement – Team Europe, who will carry out their final preparations in Barcelona, Spain, the other teams are expected to arrive during December.

Two VO65 teams are also in full refit mode, preparing their boats to be ready for the rigours of the around the world race. 

The official opening of the free-to-enter Ocean Live Park in Alicante will be on January 7, followed by the Alicante In-Port Race on January 8, with the start of the race’s opening leg to the West-African Cabo Verde archipelago scheduled for January 15.