Photographer Rod Harris reports for The Islander from Newport R.I. The Ocean Race is the most demanding round-the-world sailing contest. Newport, RI, was the only North American stopover during the six-month 38,000 nautical-mile race around the world, which began in Alicante, Spain, this past January 2023.
After the Newport Stopover, the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) teams head to Aarhus, Denmark and The Hague, Netherlands, with a grand finale finish in Genoa, Italy, in June 2023. As the teams approached Newport, leaving from Itajai, Brazil, 600 miles to the leg, they encountered the most brutal weather thus far in the race, with strong winds gusting over 50 knots. The crews were challenged by multiple weather systems and variations, sailing through the southern hemisphere trade winds into the north Atlantic trade winds. The 11th Hour Racing Team and Malizia battled back and forth for the lead to Newport; the 11th Hour crew gained the advantage, winning Leg 4. The teams arrived at Fort Adams to an enthusiastic crowd, witnessing throngs of people wildly cheering and celebrating the home team’s win. The 11th Hour Racing Team’s win put the only US entry into second overall on the leaderboard. This was one point behind the overall leader Holcim-PRB, representing Switzerland after the Leg 4 finish.
On May 20, the teams were scheduled for the In-Port race but were postponed due to the forecast of lightning and threatening winds. The IMOCA decided to incorporate the In-Port race with the outbound departure leaving Newport. On May 21, after a slow start due to light winds, the 11th Hour Racing Team and Malizia competitively battled before a massive crowd. Malizia prevailed as the winner, heading to Denmark.
Part of The Ocean Race’s allure is to hold summits to discuss and implement climate change initiatives to protect and restore the seas. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) through a so-called positive impact. The goal is for teams to bring attention to the effects of microplastic pollution and weather patterns on climate change. The 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race focused on reducing plastic waste and eliminating single-use plastics from sailing events. This year’s summit addressed more expansive issues to bring oversight to the lack of protection for the ocean due to a lack of international governance and poor local government legislation within the US. The speakers at the Newport Summit reflected, discussed, and shared ways to broadly incorporate a “universal declaration of ocean rights” proposal by 2030 to be delivered to the UN Assembly in New York.
Anne-Cécile Turner, Sustainability Director at The Ocean Race, said: “Healthy seas are fundamental to all life on earth, but they are at breaking point. We are determined to do all we can to help. It is a huge challenge to become climate positive within the next 18 months, but we have an opportunity to make a significant impact on a global scale, and achieving the extraordinary is in our DNA. Sport has the power to accelerate change and we have no time to waste.”
