11th Hour Racing Team Takes Flight

Buckle up and hang on tight, there's a lot of team updates coming your way in our newsletter this month, including fresh foiling footage from onboard reporter, Amory Ross.  After a 7-month refit on the team's IMOCA 60 out of Vannes, France, our boat finally made its way back to the water in mid-July. The most significant change? The installation of our new Persico Marine foil. You'll notice a dramatic increase in size and the design is made even more impressive with the addition of a T-foil - which will help create even more lift and reduce leeway.

After four months of working remotely due to the pandemic, our team co-founders Charlie Enright and Mark Towill and the sailing team mobilized to gather in France to find their sea legs once again. The team got back to sailing for the first time in 2020 on the coastal waters of Brittany, France to make sure all systems were a go before our Atlantic crossing - destination Newport, RI. Check out the first footage of the boat flying with the new foil here.

July also brought news from The Ocean Race with the announcement of a 12-month delay for the next edition of the race. Race organizers made the decision after evaluating the global impacts of COVID-19 and the current sporting landscape. Teams will now approach the start line in the Fall of 2022.

This past Saturday, August 1, the team set sail for Newport, RI - home to our sponsor 11th Hour Racing. Check out who joined the sailing crew for our training delivery back to Charlie's home state.

As a part of the crossing, the team will be participating in ocean observation and contributing to scientific data collection with the deployment of a scientific drifter buoy that is part of the "Global Drifter Program." The buoy will provide information about ocean currents along with sea surface temperature and barometric pressure measurements to help with weather predictions and climate studies.   

We're also testing the newly-installed OceanPack system. This equipment measures vital stats of the ocean environment, such as dissolved carbon dioxide, sea surface salinity, and pH. The constant stream of data collection will provide the scientific community with more information to evaluate the effects of climate change on ocean health.

The Atlantic crossing is expected to take 12-13 days, during which the team is expected to face a variety of weather conditions - including a low-pressure system and a couple of cold fronts. Check out Amory's update from the first three days of the trip here.

Once arriving to Newport, we'll continue to follow our comprehensive COVID-19 operating policy to ensure the health and safety of team members and the local Rhode Island community. The team will train out of Narragansett Bay through October, participating in various socially-distant events, including The Ocean Race Summit - Newport, scheduled to take place virtually on September 16.