The seven-boat fleet of international crews competing in The Ocean Race Europe 2025 has left Nice, France on Leg 4 of the five-stage race which will see the teams round the French island of Corsica on their way to the finish in Genova, Italy.
Conditions in the Bay of Nice were benign for the 1700 CEST start as the yachts – all flying their massive Code Zero headsails – jockeyed for position on the startline, before heading upwind in around eight knots of wind towards the first scoring gate situated around eight miles away off Monaco.
Holcim – PRB (SUI) with Nico Lunven standing in as skipper for Rosalin Kuiper (NED) made the best start at the pin end of the line and were able to use the resulting clear air to stretch away from the pack in the opening few minutes. Race leader Biotherm (FRA) skippered by Paul Meilhat (FRA) also got away cleanly at the windward end of the line. Team AMAALA (SUI / KSA) were the only team to start on port, making an early split from the pack as they initially headed offshore.
The course for Leg 4 takes the fleet on a 550-nautical mile loop around Corsica, with the teams having to negotiate the notoriously tricky Strait of Bonifacio – an 11km-long passage between Corsica & the Italian island of Sardinia that is known for its swirling currents & shoals – before turning north toward the finish line in Genova – host city for the Grand Finale of inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe in 2021.
Yoann Richomme (FRA), skipper of Team Paprec Arkéa – who returns to lead the team after sitting out Leg 3 from Cartagena, Spain to Nice – expects the first 24 hours to prove key to the order the fleet finishes in Genova.
“First of all we have some wind here in Nice to get us around the scoring gate in Monaco – so that should be really nice,” he said on the dock this morning. “Then we are off across to Corsica where we have a very light wind patch to cross tonight, before a transition into the new wind tomorrow.”
Corsica – the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean – is renowned for its towering mountain ranges, a feature that Richomme says will impact how close the crews choose to get to it.
“Racing around Corsica is always very tricky because the mountains on the island are big and their wind shadows are huge. So, some very interesting racing to be had on the way to Bonifacio and then on the way to Genova – phew, that’s a whole other story.”
The French skipper said he was delighted to be back onboard and raring to go. He paid tribute to the Paprec Arkéa crew’s performance on Leg 3, where led by co-skipper Corentin Horeau (FRA), the team finished fourth – leaving them tied for second overall with the Swiss entry Holcim – PRB.
“It’s nice to be back on board, I’m in really good shape and highly motivated,” he said. “They have done a really good job on a tough leg – it was hard for them – so I will be really happy if I can get us back onto the podium on this leg.
“We are always looking to win one of the legs but we know it is going to be really hard. This is one tricky leg: all the way to Genova I don’t think we are going to know who is going to win it until the last few miles.”
Pip Hare (GBR), racing aboard Scott Shawyer’s Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive, said the teams still did not have the full picture of how the weather would evolve beyond the first 24 hours of the leg.
“We are still looking for the pattern to develop with the next forecast, because right now it is still quite uncertain,” she said. “Underneath Corsica is going to be interesting if you arrive early or if you arrive late – you could get absolutely hammered with big breeze, or not. Then I think the end of the leg could really mix things up.”
Hare has some experience of racing in Genova after sailing the last leg of The Ocean Race Europe 2021 and “racing a lot of Mini races from there”. Her verdict was to expect the unexpected:
“My experience is there is not a lot of wind, with waterspouts and thunderstorms – it throws it all at you.”
For Ambrogio Beccaria (ITA) skipper of the Italian-flagged Allagrande Mapei Racing there is only one goal – to be first across the finish line in Genova – a city he thinks of as a second home, having built and launched his Class 40 yacht there in 2022. The team were unable to compete Leg 1 of the race after a collision with Holcim – PRB soon after the start in Kiel, and sit in fifth place in the overall standings.
Nevertheless, Beccarria said the team will be gunning to be first through the Leg 4 scoring gate at Monaco.
“We would like to win some points there but it is not something we are pushing for so much, because we are aiming to win the leg,” he said.
30 minutes after the start and with the fleet pushing towards the Monaco scoring gate, no team had locked into a clear advantage with five teams within a quarter mile of each other.
