DAY 04

0955 local / 0755 UTC

It's still pretty hard to expect the ETA most likely it will be somewhere between
And the race looks far from over with only 6nm between the top 4 boats.
From our point of view it's looking like almost everything is still possible.

We're looking forward to see you out on the water or at the dock when the boat arrives.
For now we're closing this liveblog as preparations for the arrivals are in full swing.

Keep checking the tracker and our socials.

0945 local / 0745 UTC

Let's start this day with an insight on how Jordan and Simbad made mission impossible possible

0650 local / 0450 UTC
D-Day boats will arrive in The Hague today.

We're still in second, but with the whole fleet compressing. And the boats from behind coming back, it's far from over. For the latest updates check the Tracker yourself.

Boats have gone faster overnight than expected, but are slowing down at the moment.
Potentially there will be made a short course adjustment: an extra loop in front of the coast.

At the moment ETA is still unclear but for the VO65's most likely between 12:00 and 15:00.
Keep an eye out on the official The Ocean Race channels, those of the stopover and our socials.

DAY 03

2030 local / 1830 UTC

It will be another nerve breaking night with a lot of us checking The Ocean Race tracker all night.
If nothing major happens we will be back tomorrow. With this live blog.

1900 local / 1700 UTC
Almost all day in second position. But let's go back to yesterday morning.
When we broke our A4 and sailed in third for a while it became super tricky!

1500 local / 1300 UTC

At the moment we’re sailing upwind in second position but about a day ago something went wrong while sailing downwind near the Norwegian coast. We broke our A4.

1316 local / 1116 UTC

From TheOceanRace.com :
"In the V065 fleet it is WindWhisper Racing Team continuing to hold pole position over Team JAJO and Mirpuri / Trifork Racing, although the racing here is very close - the spread between first and fifth is less than 25 miles. 

"It's been an interesting start to the leg," said Pablo Arrarte, the skipper on WindWhisper. "We've had all kinds of conditions - upwind, downwind, reaching, light wind, a lot of wind. Luckily we are leading still..."

Both fleets are expected to finish on Sunday afternoon in The Hague, with the exact ETA still uncertain as conditions near the finish are not locked in with the weather forecast yet. 

But a 10 boat arrival (5 Imoca 60's and 5 VO65's) on an extremely sunny and warm Sunday afternoon in The Hague promises to be exciting sport, and a fabulous spectacle for fans of The Ocean Race. "

1055 local / 0855 UTC

Short update by OBR Brend Frank:
"Everything onboard is going well. We gained a lot in the last couple of hours. At the moment we can actually see the WindWhisper. Everybody is giving their most to realise a maximum result. Meanwhile we also have Trifork/Mirpuri on our back.

In the meanwhile Max (our navigator) and Jelmer (our skipper) are almost getting no sleeping. They sometimes grab a few minutes behind the nav-desk.

On a funny note: we lost the toothpaste which is a disaster. But somehow we found it back a few minutes a go. Now everyone is happy again. The Hague we're coming for you!"

1005 local / 0805 UTC
Goodmorning fans and followers.

It's the middle day, tomorrow already the boats are expected to arrive in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Waking up this Saturday morning we find Team JAJO back in second position, about 3.4 nm behind the leaders Team WindWhisper Racing Team. And 4 nm in front of Mirpuri / Trifork Racing Team. But it's still early on and difficult to compare as we're currently racing upwind.

A good measuring point will be the next mark, in front of the Danish coast. On the tracker picture below all the way at the right. To make sure you don't miss anything keep your eyes out on: The Ocean Race tracker

DAY2

2150 local / 1950 UTC
Around 420 nm to go for the five VO65's will finish in The Hague.
While we enter the second night the differences are still relatively small.
Follow the action over night by The Ocean Race tracker.

1852 local / 1652 UTC
We just received the following email from the boat:

"Hereby is an update from Team JAJO. The first 24 hours have been full-on. First of all a big thanks to the city of Arhus and all the people and volunteers for making it such a nice Stopover.

We came sharp out of the start and were happily leading the fleet out. After a few hours, the breeze dropped. It was a pretty nice Scandinavian night. Almost no darkness. In the early morning, the breeze started building and pretty quick we were on a fast reach with an average speed above 20 knots.

At the turning mark in front of Oslo we were 10 minutes behind the leading WindWhisper Racing Team and only a few minutes behind Trifork/Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team.

Viva Mexico Ocean Race and Austrian Ocean Racing are a bit further behind us.

Now we are on a downwind course toward the next turning mark. Only 2 more days to the finish in The Hague! The team is looking forward to meeting all the Dutch sailing fans on the dock!

Cheers, Jelmer van Beek

1700 local / 1500 UTC

Let's have a look about the first 24 hours onboard



1605 local / 1405 UTC:

1600 local / 1400 UTC:

Glamour conditions out there for the Norwegian coast.
20 knots of wind and the sun is shining. Currently still in third position

0950 local / 0750 UTC:

We just rounded the most northerly mark on the route in third position.
All is good onboard a little bit more wind than expected last night and this morning.

DAY 01

1700 local / 1500 UTC: VO65 Sprint - start report

Having dominated both previous in port races the pressure was on Pablo Arrarte’s WindWhisper Racing Team (POL) to deliver a repeat performance for the opening stage of leg 6.

In contrast to the super light conditions earlier in the week when they last raced, the breeze was 10 knots across the course.

At the start, WindWhisper Racing Team jumped the gun and were forced to return back to re-start. Gerwin Jansen’s Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova (AUT/ITA) were penalised for an infringement at the start and had to take a penalty turn.

This left Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team (DEN) and Team JAJO (NED) to lead the field along the first leg with Viva México (MEX) in third.

At the first mark it was Team JAJO that rounded ahead with Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team close on their stern.

After the first of two laps around the rectangular format course the order remained the same with Team JAJO leading the field as the distances between each were starting to stretch out.

After the second lap and as the fleet headed off to the northeast on the start of the offshore leg, it was Team JAJO that had not only held onto their lead but extended it to more than 400m.

Behind them the competition was close with Mirpuri/Trifork Racing Team in second, Viva México in third with WindWhisper Racing Team nipping at their heels in fourth and Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova in fifth as the fleet passed through the final inshore gate. From there it was north into the late afternoon sun.



1648 local / 1448 UTC: As the VO65s approach the leaving gate for Stage 2 of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint it's Team JAJO leading the fleet, with Mirpuri/Trifork in second and Viva Mexico working to hard to fend off WindWhisper Racing. Austiran Ocean Racing-Genova is trailing after a pre-start penalty. As the boats head out to sea, the ETA in The Hague is 11 June...

1630 local / 1430 UTC: After one lap of the race course, Team JAJO has managed to extend away slightly from Mirpuri/Trifork Racing, with Viva Mexico sliding back slightly and giving WindWhisper some hope of moving into the top three. Austrian Ocean Racing / Genova pushing to recover from their penalty turn.

1617 local / 1417 UTC: Very close at the irst mark, with Team JAJO just holding off Mirpuri/Trifork Racing and Viva Mexico right behind. Then further back it's WindWhisper followed by Austrian Ocean Racing/Genova...

1610 local / 1410 UTC: Lots of action at the start, a penalty to Austrian Ocean Racing-Team Genova for infringing on Trifork/Mirpuri and WindWhisper over the line early by just a fraction of a second. But Team JAJO with a fantastic start and Mirpuri/Trifork just behind, with Viva Mexico in third...

1605 local / 1405 UTC: Into the start sequence for the VO65s... winds are light in the 8 knot range.

1520 local / 1320 UTC: The VO65s are out in the race course start area, with less than an hour to thei 1610 start time. Wind is around 6 to 9 knots. The IMOCA dockout takes place starting at 1630...

1420 local / 1220 UTC: As the VO65 fleet prepares for dock out, the Race Committee is on station and reporting:
Wind direction - 150-degrees
Wind speed - 8 knots

1320 local / 1120 UTC: Leg 6 from Aarhus to the Hague gets underway today with 10 boats in two fleets taking on a tactically complex leg.Expectations are for a 5 to 7 knot sea breeze today, under clear sunny skies and probably the warmest day in Aarhus so far this year, up to 24-degrees. So it won't be the fastest start, but stronger conditions are forecast for Friday.

First off will be the VO65s. 

Starting at 1610 local their race begins with laps of the square inshore course in front of what is expected to be a busy spectator fleet before then heading north towards the tip of Denmark. From there, the amended course takes them out to a mid-point in the North Sea before heading back towards the Danish coastline where they will turn south and head towards the finish off the Hague.

“We have looked carefully at the weather forecasts and have decided to add two virtual marks into the course in order to have the fleet finishing in The Hague on Sunday afternoon,” said Race Director Phil Lawrence.