It might be a different challenge to the Vend\u00e9e Globe, but The Ocean Race Europe still brings high-intensity racing to the ocean-going IMOCAs classPhoto: Vincent Curutchet \/ The Ocean Race.Given what the IMOCA 60 class was designed for \u2013 and the way in which blasting around the world non-stop, alone, on foils in just under 65 days grabbed everyone\u2019s attention last winter with the Vend\u00e9e Globe \u2013 we could be forgiven for thinking that a six-leg, fully crewed, stopping service around Europe is a walk in the park for the world\u2019s top sailors and their 60ft rocket ships.
\nYou might not be surprised to hear they don\u2019t seem to see it like that. After all, what\u2019s the point in talking down an event that many of them have been talking up for months in the boardrooms of potential commercial backers?
\nI spent a bit of time with the skippers and crews on board their boats and on the dock ahead of the start of The Ocean Race Europe in Kiel, and it\u2019s quite clear they mean it when they say that the 4,500-mile, six-week race would be extremely tough.
\nSam Goodchild, who is sailing aboard Biotherm, looked me straight in the eye and said: \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be easier than the Vend\u00e9e Globe that\u2019s for sure.\u201d
\nBiotherm skipper Paul Meilhat, who finished 5th in the last race around the world, and who sailed Biotherm fully crewed in the 2022\/23 Ocean Race told me that, while he had recuperated physically from his recent lap of the planet, he hadn\u2019t fully recovered from the project mentally and that this race around Europe would give him, \u2018the kind of slap in the face that I need to get back on track!\u2019
\nPhoto: Jean-Lous Carli \/ The Ocean Race Europe 2025.
\nBoth of them talked of the intensity of the race and the focus it requires \u2013 particularly the complexity of a course that weaves itself around sand banks, rocks and wind farms to exclusion zones, shipping lanes and general traffic. They talked of the complex weather, the tides and, of course, their competitors. The crews may have barely discussed a watch system, given that there\u2019s so little opportunity to operate one if you\u2019re going to stay ahead of the pack.
\nThe longer legs in this race from Kiel, Germany, to Boka Bay in Montenegro, each take around four days, around the time that the rest of us might take to do the Fastnet Race. But in their case, they do five of them back-to-back with just three days at best between each race. Each team is also limited to just five shore crew, which means the race crew will have to muck in at the stopovers if there is (and there will be) anything to fix.
\nThe fact is that even though The Ocean Race Europe doesn\u2019t really bill it like this, the crews see this as a very different and intense race for this class, something akin to the Figaro, or perhaps even a bigger version of the Tour de France \u00e0 la voile of the early 2000s when it was raced in Mumm 30s.
\nSo, whether you were talking to Yoann Richomme, Brian Thompson, Boris Herrmann, Cole Brauer, Pip Hare or Alan Roura, they all said much the same. They also said they were looking forward to learning from each other.
\n\u201cWhen you sail on your own all the time you do tend to stick with your way of doing things,\u201d Goodchild pointed out. \u201cBut working with others who have been your arch competitors provides a great opportunity to try out different techniques.\u201d
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018This one was special\u2019 \u2013 Homecoming victory for Beccaria in The Ocean Race Europe Leg 4<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmbrogio Beccaria\u2019s team Allagrande Mapei Racing made a triumphant finish to The Ocean Race Europe Leg 4 as they arrived\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBiotherm wins Ocean Race Europe Leg 3 after going neck-and-neck with Team Holcim-PRB<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the latest from the Ocean Race Europe Leg 3, Biotherm is still defending its perfect streak from Leg 1\u2026<\/p>\n
And therein lies a hint to something else that\u2019s going on in this class. The ability to experiment, test, develop and refine the IMOCAs by pushing them harder with a full crew than you would alone is providing a form of accelerated learning in some cases.
\nThe last around-the-world Ocean Race ended up attracting a lot of interest from the offshore rock stars as they started to see that some of their arch-rivals were collecting valuable data on the long ocean legs that might be useful in their solo campaigns. For some, that resource remains in their minds and they\u2019re using the wide variety of races now available for this class as a means of learning more.
\nWith 5-10 new boats expected for the next Vend\u00e9e \u2013 several in build and price tags of up to \u20ac6m apiece \u2013 there\u2019s no shortage of focus on winning the ultimate solo prize.
\nBut the newfound intensity in crewed IMOCA racing can also come at a price, as Holcim PRB and Allagrande Mapei Racing discovered less than a mile off the start line in Kiel when a serious collision forced both of them out of the leg.
\nDramatic as it looked, the large hole in the side of Holcim wasn\u2019t the biggest issue, instead it was time. Fixing this kind of damage can be done, but when the round Europe schedule is as relentless as this one, a crisis like this can be a huge blow to a campaign.
\nNo wonder the teams don\u2019t see this race as a walk in the park.<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/p>\n
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The post \u2018Teams don\u2019t see The Ocean Race Europe as a walk in the park\u2019 \u2013 Matt Sheahan appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It might be a different challenge to the Vend\u00e9e Globe, but The Ocean Race Europe still brings high-intensity racing to the ocean-going IMOCAs classPhoto: Vincent Curutchet \/ The Ocean Race.Given what the IMOCA 60 class was designed for \u2013 and … <\/p>\n