Beginning this week, Bristol native Charlie Enright and his 11th Hour Racing team will be watching the weather for favorable conditions for a transatlantic crossing back to Concarneau, France.

“The objective of this transatlantic is to get as much data as possible on the boat and foil and so we want the right conditions for testing — fast sailing and downwind — which we should have the whole way across,” said crew member Simon Fisher in an article recently posted to the team's blog at www.11thhourracingteam.org.

While in France, the Team's current IMOCA 60 (HB 6) will undergo a refit in advance of a busy 2021 training schedule in preparation for the beginning of the next around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race.

It will be Enright's 3rd VOR, but his first in an IMOCA 60. He sailed the previous 2 at the helm of a Volvo 65; the next VOR will see a fleet divided into 2 classes with both boats competing.

The IMOCA 60 is a foiling monohull designed for singlehanded racing. It's a lot faster, with a lots less elbow room than a Volvo 65 — something the 5-person 11th Hour crew is in the process of becoming accustomed to.

Earlier this month, 11th Hour also announced they would be building a brand-new IMOCA 60 for the campaign. The vessel will be designed by Guillaume Verdier and built by CDK Technologies, in Brittany, France.

“France is the home of offshore yacht racing and so to be immersing ourselves in the culture, amongst the world’s experts, and to be racing alongside the very best teams, is the perfect opportunity to continue our fast-track introduction to this new Class,” said Enright.

“Our current outlook is to be sailing and racing in our new IMOCA next summer and we are having conversations with teams about the sale or charter of HB 6: she’s a highly competitive IMOCA 60 with a really strong track record in international races."

The team arrived in Newport in mid-August and after a short time off the water and participating in homecoming events while HB 6 was fitted with a new foil, the team spent the end of the summer training on Narragansett Bay out of their base at Sail Newport.