“There is no favorable wind for those who do not know in which direction they want to sail”, this is how the old sea dog and conqueror Wilhelm I of Orange-Nassau (1533 to 1584) once summed up the fate on the seven seas. Given that he was nicknamed “Wilhelm the Silent”, this was a bold appeal to all seafarers to think carefully about their course. It is possible that such precision in navigating would also have helped the world’s best sailors in the Ocean Race, because the outcome of the regatta is now decisively characterized by a collision between two boats.
Overall victory at the green table for the Americans from 11th Hour Racing, so judged an international jury in Genoa this Thursday. With 37 points, the crew around skipper Charlie Enright surpassed the Swiss from Team Holcim (33 points), who now have to live with second place in front of Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia after a rule and material drama.
Favorable winds and sailing wisdom or not, the Ocean Race is also about winning, and ambition is also involved. And that’s why there was a lot of rumbling when the yachts of Team Guyot (ultimately fifth place) and 11th Hour Racing collided off The Hague two weeks ago.
A fatal and avoidable showdown on the last leg towards the Mediterranean, where some regatta participants ultimately only made it by plane. The boats were damaged, it was difficult to continue, both high-performance barges had to be repaired in the shipyard. After more than 30,000 nautical miles around the world, six months of toil on board through days, nights and twilight conditions of all kinds, this circumnavigation came to a finale with a judge’s verdict.
Because: Actually, 11th Hour was threatened with disqualification because a retreat on the final section is not possible. The injured Americans protested and demanded a hearing of the jury chaired by the Spaniard Andrés Peréz.
He and his committee heard everyone involved in the race (Boris Herrmann was also in the group) and assessed the rear-end collision in order to find a fair solution for the outcome of the race. Actually, the course of the crash was quite clear: Guyot skipper Benjamin Dutreux had steered his boat at full speed into the stern of the opponent so that he was unable to avoid it in time.
A momentous scene that will henceforth find its place in the almanacs of sailing. The pointed bow of the Guyot boat literally slashed the 11th Hour yacht, leaving a chair-sized hole in the carbon hull as a souvenir of the accident. After all, only property damage. Nobody got into distress off the west coast of the Netherlands, everything happened close to the mainland.
A faux pas for which Dutreux took responsibility when he was back in port: “Clearly our mistake,” said the Frenchman angrily at the time, “I’m so sorry, what crap.” While tears flowed at 11th Hour as the crew believed they had snatched overall victory from them, little did they know there would be an aftermath.
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Hole in the boat: 11th Hour’s yacht after the collision.
(Photo: Andreas Beil/Imago)
How do you compensate a crew that misses the regatta goal while having a good chance of competing because their racing yacht is cleared out in the style of a Formula 1 duel? The rulers finally met about this – also morally complicated – question. 11th Hour appealed to the Rule Book of Sailing. Points 62.1 and 64.3 of the Racing Rules of Sailing state, in simplified terms, that a regatta participant who is deprived of a result through no fault of his own can be retrospectively credited with points. It was this sort of redemption that helped 11th Hour triumph.
He was “absolutely thrilled,” said skipper Enright after the decision that enabled him to win: “This race demands everything from you – emotionally, mentally and physically,” so he was “incredibly proud of the team that has been there for three years has worked tirelessly for a long time to get to this point”.
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Skipper Charlie Enright (links).
(Photo: Andreas Beil/Imago)
The hardships of the race resonated, the previous uncertainty about the outcome also cost nerves. All pretty much for the sailors. And those who listened to Enright’s summary got an impression of what such a thriller triggers even in the toughest sea conquerors.
“There were incredible highs, but also lows that blew us all away, but it was worth hearing the news today,” said the 38-year-old. William I of Orange-Nassau would certainly have felt the same way.
