The seven international teams competing in The Ocean Race Europe 2025 have set off from Genoa, Italy on the fifth and final leg of the race — a complicated 1,600-nautical-mile passage through the Mediterranean and into the Adriatic Sea on the way to Boka Bay in Montenegro.
Montenegro's Minister of Maritime Affairs, Filip Radulović, was in Genoa for the start of the leg, promising a warm welcome when the fleet arrives in Boka Bay.
But there is an estimated eight days of gruelling racing ahead of them before the arrival and as soon as the start gun fired at 1500 CEST, the four-person, mixed-gender crews were immediately faced with a critical decision: whether the first patch of breeze would be inshore or offshore.
Prior to leaving the dock on Sunday morning (7 September), several of the IMOCA skippers said they were still weighing up their options about this early key choice.
Boris Herrmann (GER), skipper of the German entry Team Malizia, described the start scenario as “challenging” but was smartly keeping his strategy cards close to his chest.
“After the start today [the question will be] whether we will get the wind patch along the shore or offshore. I suspect the leg could be decided nearly right at the start — between those who go offshore and those who stay inshore. We will see.”
Looking further ahead along the leg 5 race course — one that sees the fleet dive south from Genoa, through a Scoring Gate at the latitude of Sardinia’s Santo Stefano, looping around a series of waypoints that take the yachts past the islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, before rounding a waypoint west of Greece and turning north into the Adriatic on the way to the finish in Boka Bay — Herrmann said that there was plenty of complex weather ahead.
“It’s a long zig-zag of eight or nine days through the Med with a lot of curves and local effects and local winds — not a huge wind field but little patches here and there,” he explained.
Starting the final leg with a 12-point lead in the overall standings, Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm (FRA) are the clear favourites for overall victory. However, with 16 points still on the table — two at the Scoring Gate, seven for the stage win and seven more for the Coastal Race in Boka Bay on 20 September — Meilhat and co-skipper Amélie Grassi (FRA) know all too well that they are far from home and dry.
And stepping in to replace Britain’s Sam Goodchild on board Biotherm is Spanish Mini sailor Carlos Manera. “You don’t replace a Sam with another Sam!” Meilhat said about the substitution. “Carlos has a different profile, but one that suits us perfectly. He ticks a lot of boxes: Mini sailor, foiling, experience both in crewed and solo sailing.
“The solo sailing aspect is essential, because with four people on an IMOCA, everyone needs a high level of autonomy. Carlos is very versatile, and the idea is also not to put pressure on him but to keep him confident.
“For this leg, it will therefore naturally be Amélie who takes on the responsibility for navigation and strategy.”
Behind Biotherm, four teams — second-placed Paprec Arkéa, third placed Team Holcim-PRB (SUI), fourth-place Alagrande Mapei Racing and Team Malizia (GER) — are all in a fierce battle to secure a podium place.
The fleet began Leg 5 in light winds that saw the fleet ghosting across the start line in a sub-five-knot breeze at speeds in the three to four-knot range. It was the Leg 4 winner Ambrogio Beccaria’s Allagrande Mapei Racing who made the early running immediately after the start, leading the fleet across flat waters.
Mayor of Genoa Silvia Salis presents Nature’s Baton to Ambrogio Beccaria’s Allagrande Mapei Racing during dock-out for the start of Leg 5 of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 in Genoa | Credit: Lloyd Images/The Ocean Race Europe
For Leg 5, the Italian yacht is carrying The Ocean Race’s Nature’s Baton on board after it was presented to the Italian skipper by the Mayor of Genoa, Silvia Salis.
Before leaving the dock, Beccaria said he and his crew were hoping to build on their Leg 4 victory to deliver a good showing in Boka Bay, but acknowledged that The Ocean Race Europe 2025’s final and longest leg was likely to be a tricky and unpredictable affair.
“This is a Mediterranean race and we have proved that we are good at it, so we just have to stick to the plan and see what is going to happen,” he said.
“There are always a lot of tactics in this race because the weather in the Mediterranean is so unstable and unpredictable that you can’t be 100 per cent sure of your options.
“So it is very important to watch the other boats but then also I think it is very important to be sure of your plan: to try to have a strategy and then have the tactics to apply that; to try to not do only what the other boats are doing — because then you have no strategy and that is not always good.”
Early indications are that Beccaria and his team are playing the Mediterranean game well.
Find out how to catch all the action live via The Ocean Race website.
