Fleet storms out of Portsmouth as Leg 2 of The Ocean Race Europe begins
by The Ocean Race 18 Aug 07:46 NZST
17 August 2025
The fleet cross the Royal Yacht Squadron start line in Cowes, at the start of The Ocean Race Europe Leg 2 from Portsmouth - Cartagena © Jean-Louis Carli / The Ocean Race Europe
The second leg of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 kicked off this evening in Portsmouth in bright sunshine, with seven IMOCAs lining up off Cowes at 17:00 local time. From here the fleet will race 1,400 nautical miles to Cartagena, Spain, with a brief fly-by stopover in Matosinhos-Porto midweek.
The first target was the scoring gate at The Needles, with points up for grabs before the long run past Brittany and into the Bay of Biscay. Conditions were perfect at the start - downwind sailing in 10-14 knots of wind, with a favourable tidal current pushing the fleet down the Solent.
Yoann Richomme and his Paprec Arkéa crew led the fleet across the historic Royal Yacht Squadron starting line - the same starting line used for the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race (the precursor to The Ocean Race).
But by the time the fleet reached the scoring gate it was once again skipper Paul Meilhat's Biotherm who collected the maximum two points on offer, followed in short order by Paprec Arkéa picking up the single - the same duo who cashed in at the scoring gate in Kiel.
That leaves Biotherm with an impressive and unblemished scoring record having earned the maximum available points on the leaderboard to date in The Ocean Race Europe.
Team Holcim PRB was third to cross the gate, followed by Team Malizia and Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive. Allagrande Mapei Racing was sixth with Team AMAALA seventh, but only the top two teams earn points at the gate.
For Team Holcim-PRB, just returning to the start would have felt like a victory in itself. "It's amazing we're back in the race," said Alan Roberts. "We're not just back, we're a boat that's at 100%, even more ambitious and motivated than before to get out there and perform."
The week-long repair effort has drawn the crew closer together. "Adversity either splits or unites you," Roberts explained. "In this case it's united us. When we go offshore, we're in a really focused, nothing-else-matters mindset, and that's what this has been for the shore crew. They've been running shifts all through the night - they've thrived on it."
Alongside them, Allagrande Mapei Racing arrived in Portsmouth less than a day before the start, but skipper Ambrogio Beccaria was unfazed. "We are full on to start this second leg," he said, adding that the expected breeze during the first night is just what they want. "Our boat is especially made for strong winds, so we love to see these conditions."
For Biotherm, fresh off maximum points in Leg 1, the challenge now is to reset and defend their lead. "It's true that we started well, but we're putting that behind us," said skipper Paul Meilhat. "It's better to get points in advance, but this leg will be really hard with different conditions. First we'll focus on the scoring gate, and then it's a long, long race."
Meilhat expects an explosive opening: "It's going to be really fast until Ouessant. It's important to start well, but I don't think the race will be decided there. We'll see with the other boats, but we've made progress with Biotherm already - the boat isn't made for[these conditions necessarily, but I think we can do it."
Team Malizia, who snatched second place in Portsmouth after their Dover gamble, are relishing the prospect of a high-speed night. "It's going to be full-on," said co-skipper Will Harris. "We've got the scoring gate off the start, then high speeds and high wind - but we really love that onboard Malizia. Those are our conditions, so we've got to make the most of it."
Malizia also bring fresh energy with a rotated crew. Harris takes over the skipper's role from Boris Herrmann, joined by Loïs Berrehar and Francesca Clapcich, the latter a winner of the last Ocean Race with 11th Hour Racing. "We've got some real good experience and new fresh faces," Harris said. "It's going to be a great team, so hopefully that will get us a good result for this next leg."
Paprec Arkéa skipper Yoann Richomme is anticipating the stage to be 'beautiful' in its opening miles. "A spinnaker start down the Solent, then a fast run down the Channel - that's what I like for my boat," he said.
But he also warned of a tricky, tactical stage to come. "The first transition is at the tip of Brittany, near Ouessant. Looking at it now, the transitions are pretty straightforward, but there could always be a surprise. It's a lot of downwind, which will be a nice change after the last leg. I'm looking forward to this one."
Holcim's Roberts agreed that Leg 2 may be the most complex of the race. "This leg is going to be awesome, probably the most interesting tactically because we're going from Channel sailing to the Bay of Biscay, down into the Portuguese trades, round into the Gibraltar Straits, with a lovely little finish in the Med."
For teams further down the leaderboard, the goal is to keep pace. Pip Hare of Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive laid out a simple mission: "Boat speed. We want to hang on to the pack, make good changes, push for as much speed as possible. We don't want to lose even 0.1 of a knot. That'll be the most important thing."
Provisional Leaderboard:
Biotherm -- 11 points
Paprec Arkéa -- 7 points
Team Malizia -- 6 points
Canada Ocean Race - Be Water Positive -- 4 points
Team AMAALA -- 3 points
Allagrande MAPEI Racing and Team Holcim PRB -- 0 points
The fleet is expected in Porto by Wednesday for the short fly-by, before resuming racing immediately towards Cartagena. Find out more and track the fleet at www.theoceanrace.com