IMOCARacing Articles
Crossing the line in Boka Bay at 21:13:33 local time, Biotherm completed the 1,600-mile passage from Genova, Italy in seven days, eight hours, 33 minutes, and 13 seconds, collecting another seven points to cement their dominance. With three earlier leg wins, maximum Scoring Gate bonuses, and a solid third place in Leg 4, the French entry’s total of 48 points left them untouchable at the top of the leaderboard.
A Route to Remember The final stage was anything but straightforward.
© Vincent Curutchet
From Genova to Boka Bay — Biotherm prove unstoppable in The Ocean Race Europe 2025.
22-09-2025
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.
20-09-2025
The Ocean Race Europe fleet has finally shaken free of the light airs that dogged their departure from Genova, Italy, and now the competition is back at full throttle. With fresh Mediterranean breezes filling in overnight, the IMOCA fleet has sprung into life, powering south at speeds of over 30 knots. For the French entry Paprec Arkéa, skippered by Yoann Richomme, it’s been a near-perfect start to Leg 5 — and their early efforts were rewarded at the crucial Santo Stefano Scoring Gate, where they crossed first to claim two vital bonus points.
17-09-2025
The stage is set for a finale worthy of The Ocean Race Europe 2025. Seven hardened IMOCA crews, battle-tested from weeks of light-air duels, bone-shaking sprints, and sleepless nights, now line up for the ultimate test: a 2,000-nautical mile marathon from Genoa, Italy to Boka Bay, Montenegro.
13-09-2025
It was the finish Ambrogio Beccaria had dreamed of since the start: an Italian skipper, sailing an Italian-flagged IMOCA, flying into his home waters of Genova under the glare of floodlights and the roar of a midnight crowd. After 600 hard miles, Allagrande Mapei Racing delivered the goods, claiming victory in Leg 4 of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 and proving that sometimes, yes, fairy-tales do come true.
12-09-2025
The Gulf of Genova has become the stage for high drama in The Ocean Race Europe 2025. After more than 400 nautical miles of pressure-cooker racing on Leg 4, the fleet is compressing once again. And right at the heart of the action – in home waters – is Italy’s own Allagrande Mapei Racing, fighting tooth and nail for the lead.
11-09-2025
The Ocean Race Europe 2025 has reached its penultimate chapter, and it opened today in pure Mediterranean style. Nice delivered a sun-splashed send-off, the Bay of Angels shimmering as seven IMOCA crews unfurled their Code Zero sails and slipped the lines for Leg 4, a 550-mile loop around Corsica before the grand finale in Genova.
09-09-2025
After a long, sticky night of light airs downwind sailing close along Mallorca’s rugged northern shoreline, Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm (FRA) has emerged with an 11-nautical mile advantage over Holcim-PRB (SUI), the pair locked together for much of the night in a bruising battle of patience and precision.
03-09-2025
In the early hours of Saturday morning, under the faint glow of dockside lamps, Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm ghosted across the finish line in Cartagena. The time was 04:53 local, the crew exhausted yet elated, as they completed Leg 2 of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 with a clean sweep of every scoring opportunity on offer.
01-09-2025
The Mediterranean has once again lived up to its trickster reputation, turning the charge to Cartagena into a drifting match. Only hours after blasting through Gibraltar at 30 knots, Paprec Arkéa were wallowing along at barely one – watching Biotherm and Holcim-PRB slip north and the chasing pack roar back into contention.
31-08-2025
Portsmouth turned on the sunshine this evening as seven IMOCAs thundered off the Royal Yacht Squadron line at 17:00, launching the second leg of The Ocean Race Europe 2025. Ahead lies 1,400 nautical miles of hard running to Cartagena, Spain, with a midweek fly-by off Matosinhos-Porto to keep things lively.
23-08-2025
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
Strap in for six weeks of offshore mayhem. Seven of the fastest, foiling, fully-crewed IMOCAs on the planet — and their multination, mixed-gender crews — are setting out from Kiel this weekend on a 4,500-nautical mile sprint-slugfest to Boka Bay, Montenegro.
11-08-2025