Amo’s Update: Last night was radical

With the IMOCA fleet on the first leg of The Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain to Cabo Verde, Amory Ross provides this report from 11th Hour Racing Team on January 18:

Call it a grudge, but after The Ocean Race Europe – a predominantly light air upwind race through the Med – many began to … unfairly … compare the IMOCA class to the VO65s.

It’s hard to compete with narrower hulls and longer waterlines, taller rigs, and daggerboards you can pull all the way up in those conditions. They are apples to oranges, designed to do things differently, and the last 36 hrs has displayed just how different these boats are.

Last night was radical. The up-range reaching, downwind conditions highlight the effectiveness of the foils and we were quick to leg out…

Race details – Route – Tracker – Teams – Content from the boats – YouTube

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