The Ocean Race 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
From a crawl to a sprint The seven mixed-gender IMOCA crews had endured a frustrating opening to the 1,600-nautical mile passage from Genova to Boka Bay, Montenegro. Since leaving the Ligurian coast on Sunday afternoon, they had tiptoed east in ultra-light winds, hugging the shoreline past Nice and St. Tropez. Crews sweated in the late-summer Mediterranean heat, trimming, re-trimming, and searching for the faintest puff of air to keep their foiling machines moving.
17-09-2025
SASSNITZ, SEPTEMBER 2025 – For the Germany SailGP Team, the 2025 season began under a cloud. A punishing 12-point penalty in Sydney left them trailing from the outset, fighting uphill against the fiercest competition in sailing. But as the latest episode of SailGP’s acclaimed behind-the-scenes docuseries Racing on the Edge reveals, Germany have turned adversity into belief – and on their home waters in Sassnitz, they finally delivered the breakthrough performance their fans had been waiting for.
15-09-2025
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
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
The Ocean Race will return to Itajaí, Brazil during the 2027 and 2031 around the world races.
Known for its enthusiastic fans who welcome the sailors and teams after weeks of racing through the challenging conditions of the Southern Ocean, Itajaí is always a welcome stop on the race calendar. This will mark the fifth time the race has been in Itajaí and the 11th visit to Brazilian shores.
15-07-2025