Everything you need to know about The Ocean Race Europe 2025
by The Ocean Race 10 Jul 08:52 PDT
10 August 2025
Holcim - PRB Training in Lorient ahead of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 © Anne Beaugé / Holcim-PRB
One month out from the start of the 2025 edition of The Ocean Race Europe seven mixed-gender crews made up of sailors from across 13 nations are in the throes of their final preparations for the Race start in Kiel, Germany on August 10.
The 2025 edition is built on the foundations of the inaugural race in 2021 and is held under the banner of "Connecting Europe".
The 4,500-nautical mile multi-stage offshore race starts in Kiel, Germany on August 10 and takes the fleet around Europe, with stops in England, Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy, before the teams arrive in Boka Bay, Montenegro, around September 15-16 and the Final Scoring Race on September 20,
The finish in Montenegro marks the first time in its over 50-year history that crews from The Ocean Race will compete on the Adriatic Sea.
All seven teams will compete in foiling IMOCA designs which use retractable foils to help lift the yacht's hull partially out of the water to reduce drag and increase speed. The teams will race with four sailors aboard (plus an onboard reporter) representing at least two nationalities, at least one of which must be female.
Spread around the fleet are 11 skippers from the Vendée Globe 2024-25, and six past-winners of The Ocean Race around the world.
Team Holcim - PRB (SUI) is led by Netherlands sailor Rosalin Kuiper (NED) who established her reputation as an offshore sailor in iconic races like the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, The Fastnet Race, and the Caribbean 600. She finished second in the 2021 edition of The Ocean Race Europe aboard the AkzoNobel Ocean Racing VO65, before taking on the 2022-23 around-the-world edition of The Ocean Race aboard Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia.
Joining Kuiper for the European race are French legendary ocean racer Franck Cammas - winner of The Ocean Race around the world in 2011-12 at his first attempt, France's Nicolas Lunven - a double-winner of the Solitaire du Figaro (2009 and 2017) who raced the Team Holcim-PRB IMOCA to sixth in the 2024 Vendée Globe, British solo sailor Alan Roberts (GBR/BRA), an accomplished dinghy racer who also made his name as an offshore sailor competing on the French Figaro circuit, and Carolijn Brouwer (NED/AUS) - a three-time Olympian and multiple world champion who made history in 2018 as one of the first women to win The Ocean Race, sailing with Dongfeng Race Team.
"I remember the 2021 edition of The Ocean Race Europe as being very intense," said Kuiper. "Compared with the around the world race the legs are short, but the racing is very tactical, with lots of coastal passages. It's hard to get into a proper watch rhythm - but too long not to sleep at all. All in all, a very demanding race."
The team's two OBRs are Anne Baugé (FRA), who raced The Ocean Race 2023-24 as the onboard reporter on Biotherm, and has a track record as a solo skipper in her own right; and French photographer and videographer Adrien Nivet - a passionate onboard reporter with extensive experience of ocean racing.
Germany's Team Malizia is led by skipper Boris Herrmann - a veteran of six around-the-world races. In 2020, Herrmann became the first German to ever compete in the Vendée Globe, finishing in fifth place. Herrmann's team finished third in The Ocean Race around the world, before he returned to the Vendée Globe in 2024-25, finishing twelfth.
Herrmann has appointed five co-skippers.
British sailor Will Harris first made a name for himself in the French Figaro class and became a member of Team Malizia in 2019, since when he has taken part in major double-handed events such as the Fastnet Race and the Transat Jacques Vabre, and the fully-crewed around the world edition of The Ocean Race 2022-23. Italian-American Olympian and record-setting offshore sailor Francesca Clapcich became the first Italian to ever win in the 50-year history of The Ocean Race in the 2022-23 edition. Justine Mettraux (SUI) is an ex-Mini Transat sailor who won The Ocean Race around the world in 2017-18 and 2022-23, and finished the 2023-24 Vendée Globe in eighth place - and as first female skipper. After starting her racing and offshore career at college, American solo sailor Cole Brauer made headlines when she took part in the 2023 Global Solo Challenge aboard her Class40 First Light. She finished the race in second place after 130 days at sea - breaking the round-the-world speed record for a Class40 - and picking up more than 400,000 social media followers in the process.
French sailor Loïs Berrehar finished first rookie in the Solo Maître CoQ and later claimed fifteenth place in the Solitaire Urgo - Le Figaro, earning first rookie in the 2018 French Elite Offshore Racing Championship, as well as finishing second the 2024 La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec and in the 2024 French Elite Offshore Racing Championship.
The German team has two OBRs on its roster: Antoine Auriol (FRA/GER) is an experienced reporter with a passion for high-speed sailing and visual storytelling through photography and film. Flore Artout (FRA/NED) is an accomplished dinghy sailor and self-taught photographer and filmmaker who has sailed over 18,000 miles with The Clipper Race reporting from the Pacific and Atlantic.
"I'm really looking forward to The Ocean Race Europe 2025," said Herrmann. "While I do love the challenge of sailing solo, being part of a crew is something truly special. I'm excited to be back on board Malizia - Seaexplorer having gathered a crew of fantastic sailors. Each member brings their own strengths, and together we push each other to perform at our best."
France's Team Paprec Arkéa skipper Yoann Richomme is a two-time winner of La Solitaire du Figaro (2016 and 2019), and double winner of the Route du Rhum (2018 and 2022) in the Class40 category. In 2021 he led the Portuguese Mirpuri Foundation Ocean Racing team to victory in the VO65 fleet in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe. He finished second in the 2023-24 Vendée Globe after a race-long nip and tuck battle with the eventual winner, fellow Frenchman Charlie Dalin.
Racing alongside Richomme as co-skipper is Corentin Horeau (FRA) - a past winner of the Tour de France à la voile (2018), and a 10-year veteran on the Figaro circuit, along with Portuguese women's match racing Olympian Mariana Lobato - who won the VO65 class in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe in 2021, Gautier Levisse (FRA) - head of the Paprec Arkéa design team, Pascal Bidégorry (FRA) - double winner of the Solitaire du Figaro and winner of The Ocean Race around the world in 2017-18, Louis Dubois (FRA) - the team's rigging supervisor, and OBR Julien Champolion - an experienced reporter who has worked with a number of teams in the IMOCA and Ocean Fifty Classes in recent years, and with Team Paprec Arkéa for the last two years.
Richomme says he is a huge fan of the idea of a race around Europe. "I love races like this with short sprint legs and lots of stopovers," he said. "It's a format that's very similar to the Tour de France à la Voile, or La Solitaire du Figaro - and one that I like very much. Bringing the boats and the race to places we don't normally go is a great opportunity for our sponsors to get more exposure."
The newly-formed Italian team Allagrande MAPEI Racing is led by Ambrogio Beccaria (ITA) - an experienced ocean racer who, after graduating from the Mini 6.50 and Class40 divisions, is taking on his first IMOCA campaign as skipper. Beccaria's team are using the IMOCA yacht that France's Thomas Ruyant raced to seventh in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe - and the highly talented French sailor will race as co-skipper in The Ocean Race Europe.
Also onboard is Ruyant's regular training partner Morgan Lagravière, along with 2023 49erFX Junior World Champion Manon Peyre (FRA), and the team's experienced onboard reporter (OBR), French videographer Pierre Bouras.
"The Ocean Race Europe is very attractive from a sporting point of view because I love inshore racing and this race is half inshore and half offshore," said Beccaria. "But there is also a more ideological reason why I like this race. We are at a moment in history where we are afraid of going back to really dark times, so the idea of a race that connects people around Europe makes me dream of better times."
France's Biotherm team is led by Paul Meilhat, who makes his first appearance in The Ocean Race Europe, after finishing fourth in the around-the-world edition of The Ocean Race in 2022-23. Since then he has chalked up a fifth place in the Vendée Globe 2024-25.
Racing with Meilhat as co-skipper will be Amélie Grassi (FRA) - an experienced offshore sailor across Mini, Class40, IMOCA and Ultim circuits, as well as double winner of The Ocean Race (2017-18 and 2022-23) Jackson Bouttell (GBR/AUS), former Mini 6.50 sailor Benjamin Ferré (FRA) who finished sixteenth (and first non-foiler) in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe, 2023 IMOCA champion Sam Goodchild (GBR), who on his first attempt at the Vendée Globe in 2024-25 finished in ninth place, and OBR Gauthier Lebec (FRA) - an experienced sailor in his own right, who has carved out an impressive career for himself in the media role.
Reflecting on his crew selection, Meilhat describes the Biotherm line-up as "a serious team of winners, racing machines with Figaro backgrounds, which will allow us to play tactically, be proactive in this race, and tell a great story."
Scott Shawyer leads Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive with a mission to inspire the next generation of Canadian offshore sailors whilst advocating for water security and urgent action worldwide. The Canadian skipper is aiming to become the first Canadian to compete in the Vendée Globe - and also to lead the first Canadian team in The Ocean Race around the world in 2027.
The team recently acquired a latest-generation foiling IMOCA - the boat with which 11th Hour Racing Team won the 2023-24 around-the-world edition of The Ocean Race, and on which French solo skipper Sébastien Simon finished third in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe.
Shawyer will be racing with co-skipper Pip Hare, a veteran of the last two Vendée Globe races, along with Chris Pratt - one of France's most respected offshore sailors and a crewmember with Team Malizia during The Ocean Race 2022-23, Sébastien Marsset (FRA) - a double competitor in the around-the-world edition of The Ocean Race (2011-12 with Groupama sailing team and 2014-15 with Team Alvimedica), as well as taking part in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe, renowned British yachtsman Brian Thompson - whose track record includes multiple circumnavigations and around 40 official world sailing speed records, and OBR Georgia Schofield (NZL) - a passionate visual storyteller and lifelong sailor, who has worked as a photographer and videographer for 14 years.
"This team represents everything we stand for," said Shawyer. "World-class skill, relentless determination, and the courage to push boundaries. I'm honoured to race alongside them and to take this next bold step on our journey."
The Swiss/Saudi Arabia-flagged Team AMAALA is skippered by Alan Roura (SUI) - a highly experienced sailor who at age 23 became the youngest sailor to complete the 2016-17 Vendée Globe. In 2019 he set a new solo North Atlantic record before going on to finish seventeenth in the Vendée Globe 2020. 2024 saw him complete his third Vendée Globe when he finished the race in eighteenth place.
Racing with Roura as co-skippers in The Ocean Race Europe are Simon Koster (SUI) - who built his offshore reputation in the Mini Transat and Class40 fleets, and highly experienced New Zealand yachtsman Conrad Colman - a veteran of two editions of the Vendée Globe (2016-17, 2024-25) and winner of the Global Ocean Race in 2012.
The Swiss team recently ran an intensive physical and psychological testing session, from which seven sailors were chosen to make up the sailing squad for The Ocean Race Europe 2025: Jessica Berthoud (SUI/NZL); Lucie De Gennes (FRA/SUI); Rebecca Gmuer (SUI/NZL); Guillaume Rol (SUI); Mathis Bourgnon (FRA/SUI); Félix Oberle (SUI); Yann Burkhalter (SUI).
"At the heart of this project is a desire to pass on knowledge," says Roura. "Our approach is very different from other teams, as we have not chosen to call on sailors who are used to sailing in IMOCA. For most of those joining us, it will be a new experience. But that's what's going to be exciting, because all the people we've chosen are already very good sailors in very eclectic fields."
The Ocean Race Europe 2025 will start on August 10 from Kiel, Germany with the 850-nautical mile opening leg taking the fleet to Portsmouth, England. Leg 2 sees the fleet race 1,400 nautical miles to Cartagena, Spain - via a fly-by in Matosinhos / Porto in Portugal. The 650-nautical mile third leg through the Mediterranean finishes in Nice, France, before the fleet sets off on the planned-to-be 600-nautical mile fourth leg to Genova, Italy. The approximately 1,000-nautical mile fifth and final leg takes the crews into the Adriatic to the finish in Boka Bay, Montenegro.
Race Director Phil Lawrence said the race course would test the teams fully across a range of conditions.
"Racing around Europe is a major challenge that takes the fleet across the congested waters of the North Sea, through the confines of the English Channel, out into the open waters of the Atlantic, before taking on the tricky conditions of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas," Lawrence said. "The crews will need to perform well across a range of conditions to get to the podium and there is every possibility that the race could well be decided on the Final Scoring Race in Boka Bay."
The winner of The Ocean Race Europe will be the team that accumulates the most points during the Race. The winner of each Leg will be awarded the same number of points as there are entries in the Race. Second place receives one point less and so on down the rankings.
Additional points can be earned on the offshore legs for the top two teams to pass a scoring gate - usually situated soon after the start - with two points for the first boat and one point for the second boat. The scoring gates are: Leg 1 Kiel Lighthouse; Leg 2 Entry to The Needles Channel; Leg 3 Cabo de Palos Longitude; Leg 4 Monaco Turning Mark; Leg 5 Santo Stefano Latitude.
Leg 2 from Portsmouth to Cartagena counts for double points, with 50 per cent awarded based on the fleet positions at the Matosinhos Porto Fly-By in Portugal, and the other half based on the positions at the Leg finish in Cartagena. The overall Leg finishing positions (not points) will be those at the finish in Cartagena.
The final stopover in Boka Bay, Montenegro will include a short inshore coastal race on September 20, in which points equivalent to an offshore Leg will be awarded.
As well as competing to win the coveted The Ocean Race Europe trophy, the crews will also contribute to the Race's Racing for the Ocean initiative, aimed at helping restore society's relationship with the ocean.
During The Ocean Race Europe, the boats will be equipped with scientific instruments to measure key ocean parameters such as water temperature and salinity, oxygen and CO2 levels, microplastic concentrations and eDNA.
Some teams will be tasked with deploying drifter buoys that will transmit real time meteorological information to shore stations over a period of years. The overall goal of this initiative is to provide ocean scientists and researchers with more data points to help them better understand the changes taking place in European waters.
Fans of The Ocean Race will be able to follow the on-the-water action closer than ever with the launch of a sophisticated new online tracker, developed in collaboration with the global leader in marine weather forecasting, PredictWind. The new tracker offers unprecedented access to real-time race data and insights, and features: live GPS tracking; global weather overlays; predictive routing, a full telemetry feed, and OBR multimedia integration.
Media partner Warner Bros. Discovery (Eurosport, TNT Sports, MAX) will have live coverage of the start in Kiel and the final coastal race in Boka Bay, along with 14 shows during the race, to bring the latest action to life with the sailors from on board the boats.
Each stopover during The Ocean Race Europe 2025 will feature an Ocean Live Park where visitors can experience the Race up close, learn ocean health, and have a go at ocean activities like sailing and other watersports.
The free-to-enter Ocean Live Parks are the focal point for stopover events, entertainment programmes, food and beverage concessions - and all other activities organised by The Ocean Race, Host Cities, local sponsors, and other stakeholders.
Key attractions for visitors to Ocean Live Parks include: the opportunity to get up close and personal with the competing sailors during the Fan Days, a chance to visit an IMOCA cockpit simulator, the Helly Hansen official merchandise store, the Volvo Studio, plus a full programme of events on the main stage and various other host city and sponsor events.
The Ocean Live Park also hosts the free-to-enter Ocean Dome, a 14-metre radius structure space with a five-projector full dome and surround sound system where 360º films related to ocean health, and The Ocean Race videos and films, will be projected. The Dome will also host music performances and other conferences.
Visitors can also purchase tickets for exclusive access to the Pit Lane and a behind-the-scenes programme on the race's website theoceanrace.com to get a closer view of the teams' high-tech IMOCA racing yachts and to take a look at the team technical areas, as well as the Sailors Terrace hospitality area.
The Kiel Ocean Life Park opens on August 6, with a Fan Day scheduled for August 7, followed by two days of short course IMOCA speed runs on August 8/9, ahead of the start of Leg 1 to Portsmouth, England on August 10 at 15:45 local time.