Antoine Mermod says 2025 is going to be a huge season for IMOCA

Antoine Mermod, president of the IMOCA class © Eloi Stichelbaut / polaRYSE / IMOCA

At the heart of the IMOCA Class lies the IMOCA Globe Series Championship - a four-year championship which sets the pace for the following years ahead and is the main focus for the Class as it embarks on a demanding 2025 season.

The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe captured global attention with a record-breaking 40 skippers taking on the solo round-the-world challenge, but it is now the IMOCA Globe Series that will drive the narrative towards 2028 and shape the future of the Class.

Over the next four years the most exciting monohull class in world offshore ocean racing will take on no less than 17 races, covering tens of thousands of miles of the world's oceans. They include round the world classics like the fully-crewed Ocean Race and the solo Vendée Globe, but also five transatlantic races among them historic challenges like the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe and The Transat CIC.

The calendar also includes races featuring mixed male and female crews and the welcome return to IMOCA racing of On Board Reporters or OBRs. They will feature this year in both the Rolex Fastnet Race at the end of July and The Ocean Race Europe. Once again they will bring the thrills and excitement of sailing the fastest monohulls in ocean racing to our screens in the most dramatic way as they work alongside the skippers and their crews.

The new cycle starts with a compelling menu for 2025, a crewed or double-handed season of five events beginning with a new non-stop round Britain challenge - the 2,000-nautical mile Course des Caps-Boulogne sur Mer-Banque Populaire du Nord, which sets sail on June 29th. That is followed by the Rolex Fastnet Race, then The Ocean Race Europe, the annual Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération and finally the two-handed Transat Café L'Or-Le Havre Normandie.

Antoine Mermod, the President of the IMOCA Class, says this season, which will feature more than 60 days of racing, promises to be another great one to follow when skippers will enjoy the chance to sail with others after the solo test of the Vendée Globe. "It's going to be exciting," said Mermod. "It's a huge sporting season that is about to start for the skippers and I think our many fans around the world are going to enjoy it. It's not a solo season because, after the Vendée Globe, it's good for the skippers to sail with crew or two-handed. It's a great way for them to share experiences and learn from others by sailing together."

Mermod says The Ocean Race Europe, which starts from Kiel in Germany in early August and includes stopovers in Britain, Spain, France and Italy and finishing in Montenegro, is an important race in terms of promoting IMOCA throughout the Continent. "Thanks to the Ocean Race Europe we will visit many important sailing countries in Europe," said Mermod. "It's very important for us to show our boats in this area because we've got many non-French skippers and we want to promote the Class and our races - whether they be round the world, solo or with crew - around Europe."

This season will feature some interesting new faces in the Class as new skippers begin the long build-up to the next Vendée Globe. Mermod says taking part every year in the IMOCA Globe Series is part of the process by which these sailors will build their experience ready for the ultimate test on the solo round the world course.

"This is the start of the cycle, which is also a process to be ready to compete in our very demanding races, and that's why new skippers are starting their IMOCA journey now to The Ocean Race or the Vendée Globe. In order to participate in races like this, or the transats for example, requires a lot of time on the water so that skippers know their boats inside out, know how to sail them in all conditions and are ready for these kinds of challenges," he said.

Overall, Mermod is confident that the variety of races over the next four years offers skippers, their teams and their sponsors both the sporting and commercial platform they need. "On a sporting level we are offering a lot of high level races in different oceans and in different configurations, but it's also a marketing programme," explained Mermod. "We will visit something like 30 cities before the start of the next Vendée Globe and this will allow commercial partners to promote their brands in a range of different territories."

After the record-breaking turnout in the Vendée Globe last winter, Mermod says the signs are that the excellent health of the IMOCA Class is continuing. At present there are eight new boats in build and almost every week brings announcements of new skippers, teams or sponsors joining IMOCA. "So it all seems to be quite positive for the next cycle!" summarised Mermod.

This season will feature a new points-based scoring system in which skippers will accumulate points in every race they take part in. These will combine to produce an IMOCA Globe Series Champion each year, but will also be used cumulatively to determine qualification for the 11th edition of the Vendée Globe which will once again feature a maximum of 40 entries.

Class website: www.imoca.org/en