Final rankings, racing highlights, and the inside scoop on the race’s stopover in Genoa. Here’s everything you need to know about the end of the Ocean Race Europe 2025.Photo: Lloyd Images \/ The Ocean Race. Biotherm is the official victor of the Ocean Race Europe 2025.
\nThe team crowned an impressive overall performance with yet another first place finish at the end of Leg 5, as well as a first place win in the Coastal Race held in Boka Bay, Montegnegro.
\nThroughout the seven week, 4,500 nautical mile race around Europe, Biotherm has maintained a consistent overall lead, winning the first, second, and third legs of the race and collecting Scoring Gate points in each instance.
\nThe only mark in the team\u2019s neat run is a third place finish in Leg 4, which was instead a homecoming victory for Italian sailor Ambrogio Beccaria\u2019s Team Allagrande Mapei. After the dramatic collision with Team Holcim-PRB early in the race, for which they were not granted redress, Allagrande finished fifth overall.
\nIn second and third place were Yoann Richomme\u2018s Paprec Ark\u00e9a and Rosalind Kuiper\u2019s Team Holcim-PRB. Team Malizia came in fourth, with Canada Ocean Racing and Team Amaala bringing up the rear.
\nPhoto: Vincent Curutchet \/ The Ocean Race.
\nBiotherm skipper Paul Meilhat credits all-around collaboration between the shore teams and racing crew, as well as the boat\u2019s preparation, for their triumphant victory.
\n\u201cThere are two parts of this victory,\u201d he said, naming the organisation on shore and the boat\u2019s preparation.
\n\u201cBiotherm is more designed for this sort of race because it is really fast in transitions \u2013 light winds and flat water. We did a lot of improvements on the boat this winter. Also the crew, the motivation \u2013 I think we are all focused, we all concentrated, and we all wanted to win the race \u2013 that was the case from Kiel.\u201d
\nHow did the Ocean Race Europe end?
\nFinal overall ranking of the Ocean Race Europe:
\n1. Biotherm \u2013 55 points
\n2. Paprec Ark\u00e9a \u2013 40 points
\n3. Team Holcim-PRB \u2013 38.5 points
\n4. Team Malizia \u2013 27 points
\n5. Allagrande Mapei Racing \u2013 26 points
\n6. Be Water Positive \u2013 18 points
\n7. Team Amaala \u2013 9 points
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Ocean Race Europe 2025: Everything you need to know<\/p>\n
Seven teams, six weeks, five legs, one unforgettable race. For its 2025 edition, the Ocean Race Europe will bring together\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\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
Ambrogio Beccaria\u2019s team Allagrande Mapei Racing made a triumphant finish to The Ocean Race Europe Leg 4 as they arrived\u2026<\/p>\n
The Ocean Race Europe Leg 5 at a glance:<\/p>\n
Stopover events in Genoa highlighted the importance of ocean conservation, and how offshore racing can be a tool for environmental advocacy
\nThe Ocean Race Europe Leg 5 started slow, with two days of light winds after the fleet left Genoa
\nThunderstorms, lightning, and torrential rains hit on Day 3, with teams reaching foiling speeds of up to 34 knots
\nThe fleet segmented off of Sicily, with five boats in the leading group sailing ahead of a stormy transition zone and two teams, Amaala and Canada Ocean Racing, trapped far behind
\nA momentary overtake from Holcim-PRB off of Sicily reshuffled the fleet order
\nTactical gambles from Allagrande and Paprec Ark\u00e8a failed to pay off
\nBiotherm was first into Boka Bay, followed by Holcim-PRB
\nThe Coastal Race in Boka Bay brought a fresh wave of excitement and gave teams a last-minute chance to rack up points before the race\u2019s end<\/p>\n
The Ocean Race Europe Stops in Genoa
\nPhoto: Jean Louis Carli \/ The Ocean Race.
\nThe Ocean Race Europe fleet stopped in Genoa\u2019s Porto Antico after an exciting finish to Leg 4, which saw leg winners Allagrande Mapei snatch first place after pulling ahead of Paprec Ark\u00e8a.
\nAllagrande and Genoa\u2019s home-grown skipper Ambrogio Beccaria were greeted by an outpouring of local support, with fans, family, and media alike flocking to the race village for photos, pit lane tours, and speed tests in the Golfo Paradiso.
\nThe stopover was also a launch pad for another Italian sailor\u2019s upcoming endeavours.
\nDouble olympian and Women\u2019s America\u2019s Cup sailor Francesca Clapcich, who also won the 2022-23 Ocean Race with 11th Hour Racing, supported her bid for the 2028 Vend\u00e9e Globe with a presentation at the local maritime museum. Following the Ocean Race Europe, she will take over Malizia from current skipper Boris Hermann.
\nPhoto: Marie Lefloch I Team Malizia.
\nOver four days, talks, screenings, and workshops from local activists, sponsors, and grassroots environmental groups highlighted the Ocean Race Europe\u2019s guiding theme of sustainability. With both sailors and race officials advocating for ocean health in real time, and teams gathering valuable water samples offshore, the commitment to Racing for the Ocean was clear.
\nIn a panel discussion following a special showing of David Attenborough\u2019s\u00a0Oceans, Holcim-PRB\u2019s on board report Georgia Schofield stressed,
\n\u201cWe cannot keep sailing, keep enjoying the sea, without protecting our playground.\u201d
\nHead to our socials for a behind-the-scenes look at the events and the action, including an exclusive cockpit tour with Team Malizia!
\nDeparture from Genoa for the end of the Ocean Race Europe
\nPhoto: The Ocean Race Europe.
\nAfter the Genoa stopover, the Ocean Race Europe\u2019s fleet of IMOCAs set off again for the race\u2019s final leg, a 1,600 nm passage to Boka Bay, Montenegro that would take them down the volatile western side of Corsica and Sardinia, south of Sicily, and into the Adriatic Sea.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a long zig-zag of eight or nine days through the Med with a lot of curves and local effects and local winds \u2013 not a huge wind field but little patches here and there,\u201d Boris Hermann explained.
\nLeg 4 winner Ambrogio Beccaria\u2019s Allagrande Mapei Racing made an early running start off the coast of Ligury, but the whole fleet was soon subdued by breezes barely scraping five knots. They inched along at three to four knots of speed throughout the night. Not quite a nail-biter!
\nPhoto: Pierre Bouras \/ The Ocean Race.
\nThunder, lightning, and broaches (oh my!)
\nAfter a quiet start, the front of the fleet hit a low pressure weather system packing winds over 30 knots that sent them tearing downwind.
\n\u2018We were going so fast that we caught up to the thunderstorm and the clouds,\u2019 said Yoann Richomme of Paprec Arkea.
\nReports of broaching, loss of control, and footage of crew members getting jostled about abounded.
\nAn involuntary gybe on Paprec Arkea caused damage to a headsail sheet, as well as ripping the radar unit off its bracket on the front of the mast, while\u00a0Holcim-PRB ended up on its side.
\nPhoto: Gauthier Lebec \/ The Ocean Race.
\nThe fleet was segmented by a thunderstorm line delineating two different weather regions.
\nAhead of it, the first four boats in the fleet powered along in 30 knots of northwest wind.
\nBehind, cut off from the fresh downwind breeze, Holcim-PRB, Canada Ocean Racing, and Team Amaala were left chasing the fleet at half speed in just 12 knots of southeast.
\nPhoto: Anne Beaug\u00e9 \/ The Ocean Race.
\nAn exciting overnight speed test saw Paprec and Allagrande fighting neck-and-neck in an exciting drag race.
\n\u201cBoth boats were doing 35 knots with maybe 100-metres of distance between us,\u201d said Allagrande skipper Ambrogio Beccaria. \u201cIt was quite scary, unreal \u2013 one of the best sailing moments of my life for sure.\u201d
\nUnstable conditions, thunderstorms aplenty, and frequent wind turns saw a reshuffling of the Leg 5 leaderboard as the Ocean Race Europe fleet came up on Sicily.
\n\u201cYou always need to be careful in these conditions \u2013 always one hand for the boat and the other for whatever it is you are doing,\u201d warned Francesca Clapcich.
\nHolcim-PRB makes a comeback off Sicily
\nAs they hit lighter winds under Sicily, Holcim-PRB made straight for the waypoint instead of tacking to the North like Allagrande, Biotherm, Malizia, and Paprec.
\nSkipper Rosalin Kuiper\u2019s gamble quickly paid off\u2013 Holcim-PRB jumped from fifth to first place.
\nPhoto: Jean-Louis Carli \/ The Ocean Race Europe 2025.
\nBiotherm retakes the lead towards Boka Bay
\nAfter rounding the final \u2018India\u2019 waypoint, the leading pack rearranged once again.
\nWith Biotherm again in the lead, followed by Allagrande Mapei, Malizia, Paprec, and Team Holcim-PRB, the compressed fleet proceeded North upwind.
\n\u201cThese are good Biotherm conditions \u2013 flat water, medium wind \u2013 it\u2019s perfect,\u201d said Meilhat. \u201cWe have a lot of upwind now as we head to the North.\u201d
\nBeccaria said he hoped instead for downwind conditions, hoping to pass closer to Italian shores. Allagrande eventually broke away from the rest of the front of the pack in search of more favourable conditions, but the gamble dropped them from third to fifth when the expected wind proved elusive.
\nPhoto: Adrien Cordier \/ The Ocean Race.
\nMeanwhile, Canada Ocean Racing and Team Amaala crawled on at the back of the fleet.
\nTo facilitate stopover activities in Boka Bay (and the expected Coastal Race), the Race Committee offered an alternative waypoint to give the two teams the option of shortening the race course, which meant the fleet trailers would trade an earlier arrival for the possibility of placing higher than sixth for the leg.
\nThe Ocean Race Europe sails into the Adriatic sea
\nPhoto: Pierre Bouras \/ The Ocean Race.
\nAs the fleet entered the Adriatic, Biotherm was still at the front and covering their closest rivals tack for tack.
\nPaprec Ark\u00e8a gambled on an eastern route along the Albanian coastline with little success.
\nNot far behind, Holcim-PRB and Malizia jostled in an upwind match race, with sailors on both boats keeping a close eye on each other\u2019s sail choice, boat speed, and angle.
\nWhile touring the boats during the stopover in Genoa, we learned that some teams like to keep their tricks up their sleeve, even changing or disguising their sail bags to keep their tactical choices a secret until the last moment!
\nThe conditions required teams to stay on high alert to not lose their ground.
\n\u201cYou would think these are pretty steady, similar conditions, but it is not easy,\u201d explained Holcim-PRB sailor Carolijn Brouwer. \u201cThe wind is up and down between nine and 12 knots. When we are sailing upwind when we get to 12 knots we are at the upper range of the big sail we have on \u2013 the J0. The wind is incredibly shifty \u2013 20 to 25 degrees sometimes.
\nYou really need to be precise and on top of it all the time, to react to the differences in pressure and the shifts in the breeze. That requires a fair bit of concentration and you have to be paying attention all the time.\u201d
\nBiotherm wins final leg of the Ocean Race Europe
\nPhoto: Julien Champolion \/ The Ocean Race.
\nIt hardly came as a surprise when Biotherm was first into Boka Bay, having completed the 1,600 nm leg in seven days, eight hours, 33 minutes, and 13 seconds.
\nRosalin Kuiper\u2019s Team Holcim-PRB took second place for Leg 5 after staging an impressive comeback to rejoin the leading pack. Third was Boris Herrmann\u2019s Team Malizia; failed tactical experiments from Ambrogio Beccaria\u2019s Allagrande Mapei and Yoann Richomme\u2019s Paprec Arkea left them in fourth and fifth.
\n\u201cIt didn\u2019t pay off,\u201d Richomme commented. \u2018But that\u2019s racing sometimes.\u201d
\nNonetheless, Beccaria seemed satisfied with the sheer range of conditions teams faced during the Ocean Race Europe Leg 5.
\n\u201cLeg 5 for us was a real Odyssey, a huge race where a lot of things happened. We had a lot of light wind and strong wind. All the way down to Corsica and Sardinia we had a lot of wind. On the way to Ustica we had a huge amount of wind and a super flat sea, so we were at 35 knots of steady boatspeed \u2013 it was unreal,\u201d he commented.
\nThe Ocean Race Europe\u2019s Coastal Race in Boka Bay
\nPhoto: Vincent Curutchet \/ The Ocean Race.
\nA Coastal Race upon the fleet\u2019s arrival in Boka Bay closed out the racing events and gave teams a chance to grab last-minute points for their overall ranking.
\nThe results of the Coastal Race pretty closely matched the overall leaderboard, with the only difference being team Allagrande Mapei edging out team Be Water Positive overall thanks to their Leg 4 win.
\nEven in close quarters, Biotherm once again came first, followed by Paprec Arkea, Holcim-PRB, and Team Malizia.
\nThe Boka Bay Coastal Race results:
\n1. Biotherm
\n2. Paprec Ark\u00e9a
\n3. Team Holcim PRB
\n4. Team Malizia
\n5. Be Water Positive
\n6. Allagrande Mapei Racing
\n7. Team Amaala
\nWhat\u2019s next for the Ocean Race?
\nPhoto: Julien Champolion \/ The Ocean Race.
\nWhile the teams rest, reshuffle, and recover after their 7-week sprint around Europe, the Ocean Race events group is busy planning the upcoming calendar.
\nIn November, The Ocean Race Summit Youth in Genova will explore how sport can be a platform for environmental change, and a tool to help build a more sustainable future for our world\u2019s oceans.
\nIn 2026, the first Ocean Race Atlantic will connect New York and Barcelona with a 3,200 nautical mile sprint. It will be the first point-to-point race in the 50-plus year history of The Ocean Race. Like the Ocean Race Europe, the event will feature mixed crews, though this time with a industry-first 50-50 gender split, as well as a focus on ocean conservation advocacy.
\nIn 2027, the 15th edition of the iconic round-the-world Ocean Race will set off from Alicante, Spain.
\n\u201cThe Ocean Race is always on,\u201d says Race Chairman of The Ocean Race Richard Brisius. \u201cOur drive to protect and restore ocean health is a daily mission [\u2026] These events serve as inspirational touch points on the journey where we all get together with renewed focus and determination as we connect with the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nThe post Biotherm wins the Ocean Race Europe Leg 5\u2014 and the rest of it appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Final rankings, racing highlights, and the inside scoop on the race’s stopover in Genoa. Here’s everything you need to know about the end of the Ocean Race Europe 2025.Photo: Lloyd Images \/ The Ocean Race. Biotherm is the official victor … <\/p>\n