Paprec Arkéa Articles
Thunderstorms over Ustica: Lightning, Rain, but Little Wind
Overnight the leaders rounded the Italian island of Ustica in truly dramatic fashion. Brilliant sheet lightning ripped across the sky, heavy rain lashed the decks, and yet the breeze stubbornly refused to build. For the crews, it was a nerve-jangling mix: ghosting downwind in barely a whisper of air while braced for a squall that could hit at any moment.
With only 11 nautical miles covering the top four, every shift and every manoeuvre mattered.
© IMOCA
Storms, shifts, and sleepless nights — the Med turns cruel as the leading IMOCAs fight for every mile on the road to Montenegro.
20-09-2025
What was meant to be a straight dash into Portsmouth turned into an extra 60 nautical miles when race control added a two-lap loop off Bembridge Ledge on Wednesday night. For Paul Meilhat’s crew on Biotherm, it was business as usual. They’d led from Kiel, stayed clear of trouble, and even a squall that came barrelling in at 25 knots from all directions couldn’t shake them.
“We went from five knots to 25, then it spun right round,” Meilhat said.
19-08-2025
Upwind pace isn’t usually the party trick of an IMOCA, but Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm has been proving otherwise in Leg One of The Ocean Race Europe – and it’s giving them the edge.
15-08-2025