The Ocean Race Europe: Biotherm stays perfect while Holcim PRB secures second place

Biotherm made a dawn arrival into Nice this morning, crossing the finish line at 05:12:14 UTC (07:12:14 CEST) to complete the passage from Cartagena, Spain in two days, 16 hours, 12 minutes, and 14 seconds. The leg win earns the French team seven points and extends their perfect score in the European race so far, having collected maximum points on all three legs and all three scoring gates.

Holcim – PRB took second place, finishing 27 minutes after Biotherm after staging a prolonged attack on the leaders overnight.

Less than three miles separated the top two yachts as they made a windy rounding of the final mark of the course – a virtual waypoint 20 miles northwest of Ile De La Giraglia (a rocky islet off the northwest tip of Corsica). With winds up around 20 knots the foiling IMOCAs were averaging over 20 knots of boatspeed as they tore through the dark towards the Nice finish line.

The Holcim – PRB crew gave everything they had in attempting to close down their French rival. For a while it looked like they would succeed as they reduced Biotherm’s lead to just over half a mile as the pair closed in on the Côte d’Azur shortly before dawn. But Meilhat’s crew held their nerve to claim their third consecutive victory of The Ocean Race Europe 2025.

Podium finish for Allagrande marks a satisfying recovery

Closing out the podium positions on Leg 3 was Ambrogio Beccaria’s Italian entry Allagrande Mapei who finished 53 minutes after Holcim – PRB. For Beccaria and his new team competing in their first major event it was a hard-fought but satisfying result.

Fourth into Nice was Yoann Richomme’s Team Paprec Arkéa (FRA) – skippered on this leg by Corentin Horeau (FRA) – who trailed the Italian boat by 49 minutes.

The French team had to defend against a late challenge from Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia (GER) who closed the delta considerably on Team Paprec Arkéa in the final hours of the race – adding to the stress levels for Horeau.

Biotherm’s third consecutive leg win sees the French team remain on top of the leaderboard with 32 points scored. Holcim – PRB and Team Paprec Arkéa are in second and third respectively but tied on 23 points. In fourth is Team Malizia on 16 points, with Allagrande Mapei in fifth on 12 points.

Scott Shawyer’s Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive held off Alan Roura’s Team AMAALA to secure sixth place.

Provisional Leaderboard:

1. Biotherm — 34 points
2. Team Holcim PRB – 23 points
3. Team Paprec Arkéa – 23 points
4. Team Malizia – 16 points
5. Allagrande Mapei Racing – 12 points
6. Be Water Positive – 10 points
7. Team Amaala – 6 points

Text and images courtesy of The Ocean Race Europe. Read more here.