Wednesday morning Team Childhood I finished fifth in the second Leg of The Ocean Race Europe. It was Mirpuri Foundation Ocean Racing Team that took the win followed by Akzo Nobel Ocean Racing team in second place. Sailing Poland became third. Team Childhood I, with no fewer than 8 young professionals onboard, seemed to be on its way to third place, but eventually had to settle for fifth place.

The second Leg that took the fleet, consisting of seven Volvo 65s, from Cascais – Portugal to Alicante – Spain started with a lot of wind and waves. However, after passing the Gibraltar Strait the wind decreased, and it was a true game of chess with little wind

Close till the end
Early Wednesday morning it was Mirpuri Foundation Ocean Racing Team that crossed the finish line in first, 25 minutes later followed by AkzoNobel Ocean Racing. Behind them, it was Team Childhood I, Viva Mexico, and Sailing Poland in a tight group. In the last ten miles towards the finish line, these three had to sail with about 3 to 4 knots of wind. Eventually Team Childhood I had to let go Sailing Poland and Viva Mexico.

Rutger Vos (NED): “It was a fantastic Leg. We were well off from the start. It was a spectacular and fast start with a lot of wind and high waves. Our boat speed on the first part was good, we went into the first night as the second or third boat. We’ve been sailing with the front of the fleet all the time."

"In the last part, in the light weather, we sailed well again. We came out of the night in third place. Unfortunately, we had some material trouble in the last part, so we didn’t perform a maneuver well and that meant we lost two places. All in all, a good race, but we deserved more."

Simeon Tienpont (NED): “That was a tough one to take. The team fought hard but it didn’t end as we expected. In the final miles, we dropped from third to fifth place. Unfortunately. That’s all in the game. For now, we must process this and start looking forward again. All with all the team did a great performance and sailed well this leg.”

Jelmer van Beek (NED): “This is sometimes how it goes. We didn’t sail too bad; we were in third, fourth place for the whole race. It’s hard to lose it in the end. Luckily, we have one more leg ahead of us and I’m confident in the team that we can regroup and improve from this. So yeah, I’m looking forward to the next leg.”

Scoreboard after Leg 2
1. Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team - 11 points
2. AkzoNobel Ocean Racing - 11 points
3. Sailing Poland - 10 points
4. The Austrian Ocean Race Project - 9 points
5. Team Childhood I - 8 points
6. AmberSail-2 - 7 points
7. Viva Mexico - 6 points

The Ocean Race Europe
13 juni 2021 – Leg 3: Alicante, ESP => Genua, ITA
19 juni 2021 - Coastal race Genua, ITA

Team Childhood I fifth in Leg 2 The Ocean Race Europe