The Ocean Race returned to full strength in Aarhus, Denmark as the VO65 fleet rejoined the race for the European legs.
The breeze was 10 knots across the course at start time for Stage 2 of the VO65 Sprint.
At the start, WindWhisper Racing Team was over and had to re-start. And Gerwin Jansen’s Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova (AUT/ITA) had to take a penalty.
This left Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team (DEN) and Team JAJO (NED) to lead the field along the first leg with Viva México (MEX) in third.
As the fleet headed off to the northeast on the start of the offshore leg, it was Team JAJO that had not only held onto their lead but extended it to more than 400m.
Second was Mirpuri/Trifork Racing, Viva México in third with WindWhisper Racing in fourth and Austrian Ocean Racing in fifth as the fleet passed through the final inshore gate.
Two hours after the VO65s had left Aarhus the 10 knot breeze died to just 2-4 knots for the IMOCA start.
At the committee boat end Team Holcim-PRB (SUI) were able to push Malizia over the starting line early, forcing them to restart.
While, it was 11th Hour Racing Team and Biotherm that made the best starts with Holcim-PRB close behind.
Slowly, the gradient breeze came in off the land from the north west and when it did the leader board changed as GUYOT environnement – Team Europe overtook Team Malizia.
As the fleet cleared the leaving gate and headed out towards Kiel it was 11th Hour Racing Team that led the field,
Later on the tracker – Thursday evening at 22:05 UTC – the IMOCA fleet was bunched with Malizia just leading from Biotherm, Holcim-PRB, GUYOT and 11th Hour Racing in fifth.
The ETA in Kiel for both fleets is mid-afternoon on Friday, with a finish in The Hague expected on Sunday 11 June 2023.
