Italian-American Francesca ‘Frankie’ Clapcich and Briton Will Harris sailed to an outstanding second place in the TRANSAT CAFÉ l’OR Le Havre Normandie’s 18 boat IMOCA fleet when they brought 11th Hour Racing a full speed through the finish line off Martinique’s Fort-de-France towards the end of a beautiful, breezy Caribbean morning.

THEIR RACE IN NUMBERS

Local arrival time: 11 hours 02 minutes 46 seconds
Arrival time (Paris): 16 hours 02 minutes 46 seconds
Race time: 12 days 1 hour 32 minutes 46 seconds
Distance covered: 5,503.49 miles
Average speed (on the great-circle route): 14.80 knots
Real average speed: 19.01 knots

THEIR RACE IN BRIEF

They are one of the revelations of this TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR Le Havre Normandie. Of course, no one on the docks underestimated the talent of Francesca Clapcich, who has sailed in the Olympics, won The Ocean Race in 2023, and competed in the America’s Cup and in Ocean Fifty. Everyone also knew the skills of Will Harris, who emerged during the Solitaire du Figaro (first rookie in 2016), cut his teeth in Class40, and then raced The Ocean Race with Team Malizia. It was actually aboard the same boat, a VPLP design, that they set off under the colors of the 11th Hour Racing Foundation. And in the race, they flew! Their bold approach allowed them to take the lead at Cape Finisterre and then again approaching the Canaries, ahead of the big names.

It was only when heading west to pick up the trade winds that the duo were caught and then overtaken by Charal and Macif Santé Prévoyance. But Francesca and Will never gave up and were rewarded for their persistence: in the final hours of the race, they managed to overtake Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar and take 2nd place. The result and the way they achieved it will surely be a huge source of motivation for Francesca and the entire team, helping them gain confidence and continue to grow. She now joins the very select group of women who have stood on the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR podium, alongside Ellen MacArthur, Catherine Chabaud, Karine Fauconnier, and Servane Escoffier. And above all, Francesca can be confident that she has everything it takes to target victory in prestigious races.

THEIR REACTION JUST AFTER FINISHING

Francesca Clapcich: “It’s really something very special to arrive here on the podium. The team got back to work very quickly after The Ocean Race Europe. We put in a huge amount of work to get the boat ready. We didn’t have a single technical problem, and that’s an achievement for the whole team. Sometimes I felt like it was a leg of the Solitaire du Figaro, but it’s great because everyone pushes so hard. After our good move in the Canaries, we started to trust ourselves, and that helped us keep performing.”

Will Harris: “I’m relieved because the last few days of the race were stressful. I kept thinking that Allagrande MAPEI was going to catch us, but our average speeds were good. At the end, we were slowed down by a cloud, and I was afraid we had ruined everything, but we held on. At one point we said to each other: ‘We have to give it everything—we trust the boat.’ That’s what allowed us to keep the pressure on and manage to get back ahead of Macif Santé Prévoyance. We just trusted our instincts!”