Kiel’s Ocean Race Summit Articles
The fleet hit its latest turning point — a high-pressure ridge that split fortunes wide open. The forecast said slowdowns were coming, but the leaders somehow slipped through with more breeze than expected. “We enjoyed dream conditions right after the ridge,” said Biotherm’s Paul Meilhat, still holding the top spot. Yoann Richomme on Paprec Arkéa, chasing hard in second, was equally relieved to have crossed it “faster than expected.”
For those further back, it was a different story.
© © Gauthier Lebec
Ping-pong tacks, tight lanes & tired eyes — the Channel’s will decide glory or heartbreak.
16-08-2025
Two days into the 900-mile slog from Kiel to Portsmouth, the Franco-British crew have wrung every ounce out of their foiler, holding first place ahead of Yoann Richomme’s Paprec Arkéa. The lead was built during a bruising tacking duel off Denmark’s north coast, where Biotherm seemed to find an extra gear in the breeze and chop.
Jack Bouttell – sharing duties with Meilhat, Sam Goodchild, and France’s Amélie Grassi – summed it up: “We matched them reaching up the coast, but when the wind went more upwind, we could sail just a bit faster and tack in the right spots.
15-08-2025
In Kiel the talk wasn’t of spinnakers and start guns – at least, not at first. The city played host to The Ocean Race Summit Kiel, a gathering where ocean scientists, policy shapers, industry leaders and world-class sailors traded race tactics for hard truths about the state of our seas.
13-08-2025