WindWhisper Racing Team of Poland turned out to be unrivaled in the Ocean Race VO65 Sprint that started this year’s edition of The Ocean Race. The Polish team sailing under the command of the Spanish skipper Pablo Arrarte (ESP) was the first to finish the race with a crushing advantage.
The VO65 results:
1: WindWhisper Racing Team, 6 points
yachtingworld.com
2: Team JAJO, did not finish, 0 point
2: Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team, did not finish, 0 points
2:Viva Mexico, did not finish, 0 points
2: Ambersail 2, did not finish, 0 points
2: Austrian Ocean Racing – Team Genova, did not finish, 0 points
“In barely a breath of wind, WindWhisper Racing Team ghosted across the finishing line the VO65 In-Port Race Alicante by a comfortable margin. Such was the lead established by skipper Pablo Arrarte (ESP) and his predominantly Polish and Spanish crew, the other five boats failed to finish inside the 15-minute time limit which started ticking the moment WindWhisper had slipped across the finish line.
Out of the reaching start, with the wind off Alicante barely reaching 4 knots, four of the six boats started neck and neck on slightly different sail configurations. But it was the most leeward position of WindWhisper that edged the Polish boat into pole position as the bright red boat rounded mark one of the rectangular course with a slender but critical lead.”
The crew of the Polish yacht included: Pablo Arrarte (skipper), Aksel Magdahl (navigator), Mateusz Gwóźdź, Liz Wardley, Szymon Cierzan, Arianne van de Loosdrecht, Marcin Sutkowski, Antonio Cuervas-Mons Ruiloba, Magdalena Kwaśna, Guillermo Altadill and Tomasz Piotrowski (onboard reporter).
“For the first time in a long time, I had such a sense of excitement and a little stress on the water. For over a week, I spent 9-10 hours on the boat every day, whether on the water or working on the equipment. The culmination of emotions took place just before the start, when I realized that it was now, that we were already racing. It came to me just before the race, when I saw the time on the clock counting down to the start.”,
said a sailor from Chojnice, Magdalena Kwaśna
A few days of intensive training are ahead of the Polish team before the start of the first stage of the sea-going The Ocean Race.
On January 15, the race will start on the route from Alicante to Mindelo in Cape Verde.
Polish WindWhisper Racing Team competes with five other crews: the Portuguese “Mirpuri”, the Dutch “Team JAJO”, the Mexican “Viva Mexico”, the Lithuanian “Ambersail 2” and the Austrian-Italian team “Austrian Ocean Racing – powered by Genova”.
The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup will be won by the best team after three stages:
- Alicante – Mindelo,
- Aarhus – The Hague,
- The Hague – Genoa