Ocean Race: Leading American boat retires after collision

The leading boat in The Ocean Race fell out of the final leg of the round-the-world sailing competition on Friday, asking the sport’s superintendents for compensation in the standings to make up for the collision that pierced the carbon fiber hull.

Six months after leaving Spain on a 32,000 nautical miles (37,000 miles, 59,000 kilometres) circumnavigation of the world, 11th Hour Racing was T-boned by Guyot environnement — Team Europe 17 minutes after leaving The Hague, Netherlands, for the seventh and final stage. Guyot skipper Benjamin Dutreux has admitted the collision was his fault.

Newport, Rhode Island-based 11th Hour has filed a request for redress with the World Sailing International Jury. It is authorized under the Rules of Sailing to compensate a boat when “a boat’s score or place in a race or series through no fault of hers has deteriorated or may be significantly deteriorated.”

11th Hour topped the standings over six stages and the corresponding port races with 33 points. Team Holcim — PRB was second with 31 points, followed by Team Malizia (27), Biotherm Racing (19) and Guyot environnement (2). The seventh stage, to Genoa, Italy, is worth five points to the winner, four to second and three to third; without a jury verdict, 11th Hour would receive zero points.

11th Hour skipper Charlie Enright said crews are working to fix the boat so it can get back to what it started.

“We are working around the clock to repair the boat as soon as possible, and our intention is to sail to Genoa to rejoin the fleet and complete this lap around our blue planet,” he said. “Obviously everyone is devastated – nobody wants to finish a race like this – but the mood is high in the team and everyone is focused on finishing this incredible race on a high note.”

The 11th Hour team had won three straight legs of the race to top the standings, giving the sole American entry in the race a shot at victory if it had finished ahead of or just one boat behind Swiss Team Holcim. But Dutreux said he failed to see the American boat, which had the right of way, crashing its bowsprit into the 11th Hour hull.

“I take all responsibility. It’s certainly our fault,” said Dutreux, whose boat in last place immediately retired from the stage. “I’m really sorry. I really hope they come back and win this race. … We’ll try to help them as much as we can.”

11th Hour returned to port and began to attempt to repair the gaping hole in the hull, but decided on Friday that it could no longer participate in the race.

The crash was the latest setback for 11th Hour and its co-founder Enright, a Rhode Island native and Brown University alum who is on his third race around the world. He finished fifth in both previous attempts – with two major setbacks in the previous edition in 2018: a collision with a fishing boat and a dismasting.

During this year’s race, 11th Hour noticed cracks in the foils at the end of the first leg, which departed Alicante, Spain, on Jan. 15. The boat also activated the hazard alarm after hitting a whale they suspected was a right whale. Two crew members were injured in the collision.