The Ocean Race Europe
Perfect finish for Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm in Cartagena
Biotherm wins Leg 2 to remain perfect on the scoreboard
Paul Meilhat and his team on Biotherm remain perfect on The Ocean Race Europe scoreboard after collecting all the points available over three different scoring opportunities on Leg 2, the longest stage of the event.
Biotherm swept up 16 points (two at the Needles Scoring Gate, seven at the Matosinhos Fly By, and seven more at the finish in Cartagena) on this leg, and are now firmly atop the leaderboard ahead of Paprec Arkéa and Holcim PRB, their running mates on the Leg 2 podium.
“This one was really hard, it was a long leg. We are very tired,” Meilhat said dockside after finishing at 04:53am early on Saturday morning. “Most of this leg was in heavy, downwind conditions which aren’t the best for us, so we just tried to limit the losses to the leader (Paprec Arkéa at the stage) during these times…
“We were also very, very fast downwind after Gibraltar and one minute we were doing 30 knots average on flat water, just incredible sailing, and then within one minute we come down to nearly zero (as the wind dies). These transitions are very hard to manage… But our boat is quite fast upwind in light and medium wind so it’s probably easier for us to sail in these Mediterranean conditions.”
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For Team Holcim PRB the second place finish is their best showing after a third place score at the Fly By stop in Matosinhos.
“It’s amazing to be here in second place… A week ago we couldn’t imagine being on the starting line and now we have fought back as a team and we’re super proud to be here today,” said skipper Rosalin Kuiper.
“It was a very challenging and difficult leg, the weather models didn’t always match what we were seeing. But the spirit is really good on board, it’s a lot of good teamwork. It’s fun, we work hard and play hard and the vibe is very positive.”
On Papred Arkéa, the podium finish is a respectable result, but skipper Yoann Richomme will rue the missed opportunity after leading the fleet during the early, big-wind, high-speed miles in the Mediterranean after Gibraltar.
“Intense racing and very happy with how we sailed, one little mistake had a huge cost for us,” skipper Yoann Richomme said. “That’s the way it’s played but it’s still a good result for us, puts us into second place. I’d say we’re not super-happy with the result, but happy with how we sailed… sometimes the Mediterranean is a bit harsh and it didn’t play out for us this time but you have to accept it and look ahead to the next leg…
“It’s a long race, there’s still another month of sailing to go,” he continued. “We’re tired, it’s intense but it’s super racing, the level is really high and it’s so enjoyable. We’re really happy to be here.”
As of mid-morning on Saturday, four boats remain on the race course, with Allagrande Mapei Racing projected to be the next boat to finish, early in the afternoon and just ahead of Team Malizia,. The separation is small enough that this could change before Cartagena. Further back is the Canadian team, Be Water Positive, and Team Amaala.
1757 UTC / 1957 local time
6th place Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive
Finish Time: 23/08/2025 17:46:45
Elapsed Time: 6 days 1 hours 46 minutes 45 seconds
Scoring: 4 points (2 Matosinhos, 2 points Cartagena)
1150 UTC / 1350 local time
5th place Team Malizia
Finish Time: 23/08/2025 11:44:11
Elapsed Time: 5 days 19 hours 44 minutes 11 seconds
Scoring: 7 points (4 Matosinhos, 3 points Cartagena)
1040 UTC / 1240 local time
4th place Allagrande Mapei
Finish Time: 23/08/2025 10:28:25
Elapsed Time: 5 days 18 hours 28 minutes 25 seconds
Scoring: 7 points (3 Matosinhos, 4 points Cartagena)
0645 UTC / 0845 local time
The podium for the longest leg of The Ocean Race is Europe is complete with Paprec Arkéa in third place:
3rd place Paprec Arkéa
Finish Time: 23/08/2025 06:37:41
Elapsed Time: 5 days 14 hours 37 minutes 41 seconds
Scoring: 12 points (1 point scoring gate, 6 points Matosinhos, 5 points Cartagena)
0425 UTC / 0625 local time
2nd place Holcim PRB
Finish Time: 23/08/2025 04:19:38
Elapsed Time: 5 days 12 hours 19 minutes 38 seconds
Scoring: 16 points (5 points Matosinhos, 6 points Cartagena)
Paprec Arkéa is about an hour back (0730 arrival)…
0310 UTC / 0510 local time
Biotherm is on its way to the pontoon, and behind, Team Holcim PRB is looking for a strong second place finish – ETA is near 0700 local time (about 2 hours behind)…
0300 UTC / 0500 local time
1st place Biotherm
Finish Time: 2:53:49 UTC
Elapsed Time: 5 days 10 hours 53 minutes 49 seconds
Scoring: 16 points (2 points scoring gate, 7 points Matosinhos, 7 points Cartagena)
0220 UTC / 0420 local time
It’s been a great 24 hours for Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm crew as they close in on the finishing line… Probably about half an hour to go – a couple more tacks upwind in the light conditions to cross off the final 3 miles.
2330 UTC / 0130 local time
Slow progress upwind in these final miles for Biotherm wth the ETA pushed back to 0430.
1715 UTC / 1915 local time
The latest from Race Control in Alicante has the leading trio in the fleet finishing overnight on Friday. The models suggest the most likety time for the leading boat to finish is near 0300 local time (CEST). But there is a lot of uncertainty in the modeling, so it could be slightly earlier if they get just a fraction more wind, or of course slide back if the calms return. We will keep you updated here. Looks like a long night!!
