In addition to the five IMOCA teams that have confirmed their presence in The Ocean Race for 2023, up to five VO65 sailboats will line up in Alicante in January and these will have the option to compete for a new trophy within The Ocean Race called The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup. The new trophy has been specially created for VO65 teams and will be awarded to the team that accumulates the best score in three different stages of the regatta: Alicante-Cape Verde, Aarhus (Denmark)-The Hague (Netherlands) and The Hague-Genoa (Italy).
VO65 teams participating in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup will compete in the VO65 class in scheduled In-port regattas in each of those cities, as well as the three ocean legs. “This new trophy will allow a new generation of sailors, along with some familiar faces, to gain valuable experience in The Ocean Race.. This format provides the opportunity to compete in The Ocean Race, competing in venue-to-venue stages in combination with inshore racing. Participating VO65 teams will have significant exposure on the ocean stages,” said Phil Lawrence, The Ocean Race’s Race Director.
The first round of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup is the In-Port regatta in the port of Alicante, on January 8, 2023, followed by the first ocean leg of the event from Alicante to Cape Verde starting on January 15. “We are very happy to compete in the In-Port regatta (January 8) and then start the first leg in Alicante on January 15. We are looking forward to competing in three incredible stages against top-level rivals. It promises to be an epic battle,” explained Jelmer van Beek, a 27-year-old Dutch sailor from The Hague who has been named skipper and will lead the young Team JAJO.
On the other hand, working on his return to The Ocean Race is the Team Viva México, which seeks the Mexican return to the regatta after Sayula II’s historic victory in the first edition of the regatta in 1973. No team flying the Mexican flag has participated in the regatta since then. “In 2019 we set ourselves the goal of bringing what we consider to be the best regatta in the world back to Mexico. A lot has changed in the last three years that we didn’t anticipate at the time, but being on the starting line to compete in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup is an exciting step for Mexico to return to racing and a way to pay tribute to the historic victory we achieved 50 years ago.”said skipper Erik Brockmann, who led the team in The Ocean Race Europe.
