The 6,500 nautical mile leg took the crews 17 days, 20 hours, 35 minutes, and 40 seconds View as Webpage Cape Town, South Africa. February 12, 2023 In
11th Hour Racing Team has finished Leg 2 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 in third place. It was an intense battle for the podium over the final stage of the race, with six lead changes in the last 24-hours, as the crews battled for the finish line. In the end, it was the Swiss entry of Holcim-PRB who took the win, followed closely behind by Biotherm. 11th Hour Racing Team completed the podium, crossing the finish line at 13:35:40 UTC (15:35:40 local), just 25 minutes off the winning time.
On arrival at the dock, skipper Charlie Enright said, “We are a little disappointed with a third place after 17 days, but the bigger picture to take home is that we sailed the boat fast and well, and I think that bodes well for the future. This race is a marathon and not a sprint, and we have a big doubler pointer coming up with Leg 3 through the Southern Ocean.
“We are very proud of how we sailed. We did a great job onboard, but of course, there are still things we can learn. We have a very objective and pragmatic group, and we will take from it what we can, and be better for it moving forward.
“The leaderboard doesn’t reflect what we would like it to reflect, certainly in terms of how we have sailed, but we are only 20% into the race. If we sail the boat as we have in the last leg from now until July, relative to the competition, we’ll be fine. This is an opportunity for resilience.”
Navigator Simon Fisher, a six-time veteran of this race, said, “The last 24-hours have been pretty tough! We always had the ambition to win this leg and were always fighting at the front. So to end up third is a difficult pill to swallow. But the positive thing is that we were consistently the boat that was fighting at the front for the entire leg, we sailed very well, and we never felt out of touch.
“There is a bit of luck in sailing so that is something we can’t forget. So while disappointing, and it stings a little today, we should probably not take it too much to heart – onwards and upwards from here.”