Charlie Enright praises 11th Hour Racing Team after finishing third in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race

11th Hour Racing Team skipper Charlie Enright has praised the “resilience” of his team after they took the final podium position in a “gruelling” Leg 3 of The Ocean Race.

The longest leg in race history saw teams start in Cape Town and make their way to the finish line in Itajai, Brazil.

From the very early stages, Enright’s team suffered damage to their boat and, as they approached the southern latitudes ahead of the scoring gate, they had issues with both of the boat’s rudders.

It was looking unlikely they would be able to continue .

However, Enright and his crew found repair solutions and made it to Itajai ahead of Biotherm, who finished fourth.

“There’s definitely a feeling of positivity and accomplishment, more than I could have imagined,” said Enright.

“That leg was gruelling. It was the ultimate test.

“It didn’t go the way that we’d wanted it to go. But I think every single team would have said that. It was extremely challenging. It tested the people and tested the boat.

“The resilience that our group showed was absolutely outstanding. You know, sometimes you need to be your strongest at your lowest moments and I’m just really proud of our team.”

Biotherm also suffered severe issues after hitting an unidentified object in the water which resulted in damage to the port foil and surrounding internal structures.

Despite being beaten to third place by almost three hours, skipper Paul Meilhat said, “Mostly I’m very, very happy.”

“We managed to get a very new boat through the south and we had to deal with a lot of issues to get here. Of course, I’m also a competitor and so I can’t say I’m very happy with fourth place. But I know what we went through to get here and overall it’s very positive. “

The next leg will see teams navigate from Itajai to Newport in the New England state of Rhode Island.

The overall points table sees Team Holcim on top with Team Maliza taking over second place from 11th Hour Racing Team by juts one point following Leg 3. Biotherm are fourth with GUYOT environnement – Team Europe bottom of the table.

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