Updates from Matosinhos - The Fly By

Biotherm take full points while Team Amaala struggles in light winds

0500 UTC / 0600 local time / 0700 CEST
Team Amaala reached the Matosinhos Fly By finishing line early on Thursday morning local time. The team will hold position for three hours before restarting.
Finish time: 21/08/2025 04:37:00 UTC
Elapsed Time: 3 days 12 hours 37 minutes 0 seconds
Scoring: 1 point
Restart time: 21/08/2025 07:37:00 UTC

1930 GMT / 2030 local time / 2130 CEST

Update on Team Amaala here 

1435 GMT / 1535 local time / 1635 CEST

Now it's Canada's turn as the Be Water Positive team finish in sixth place.
Finish time: 20/08/2025 14:24:27
Elapsed time: 2 days 22 hours 24 minutes 27 seconds
Scoring: 2 points


1325 GMT / 1425 local time / 1525 CEST

Allagrande Mapei Racing claim fifth place and 3 points at the Matosinhos scoring gate. 

Finish time: 20/08/2025 16:15:19
Elapsed time: 2 days 21 hours 15 minutes 19 seconds
Scoring: 3 points

1135 GMT / 1235 local time / 1335 CEST

Malizia finish in fourth place.
Finish time: 20/08/2025 11:30:20
Elapsed time: 2 days 19 hours 30 minutes 20 seconds
Scoring: 4 points

Meanwhile, Biotherm has now restarted and Paul Meilhat will lead the fleet out of this Matosinhos Fly By en route to Cartagena and the Gibraltar Strait.

1050 GMT / 1150 local time / 1250 CEST

Yoann Richomme on a second place finish for Paprec Arkéa: We won second this time because we lost a lot of miles at the tip of Brittany with the tidal gate. And that hurt us quite a bit because we were in the lead.
We’ve been fighting ever since to come back. And we had a wonderful night catching up to Malizia and then the whole team, and pulling away some miles. So it’s great news for us.

Rosalin Kuiper on arriving in Matosinhos with Team Holcim PRB: It’s super nice. It’s great to see all the people here cheering for us coming in. It’s very different because normally when we dock in we’re finished and we can really relax. Now the clock is ticking and we know within an hour we will go again. That’s way different than we’re used to, but it’s very cool and challenging as well.


1000 GMT / 1100 local time / 1200 CEST

Paul Meilhat, the skipper of Biotherm, on the dock:

"It was a fantastic start in the Solent. We took the two points and afterwards there was a lot of change in the ranking. It showed that some boats are faster in the downwind.

"Actually, we didn't get much wind and it was really short, so after, in the Bay of Biscay, we were reaching in light. So that was good for us and we took the advantage just before Finisterre. We kept to the west of the fleet and it was the perfect strategy. So we are really happy on the boat. It's working together really, really well. It's perfect!

"It's different from the first leg. In the first leg we were in front and after it was a different race, but here it was hard to the end. Even tonight, the wind wasn’t as expected, so we did some gybes and the wind was really shifty. But we found the solution to go really fast and we’re really happy with the boat.

On the Fly-By: It's a very unique format, this sort of fly-by three hours here and a rolling start. Have you ever done anything like this before or what do you think?

It's really strange because you cross the line, but it's not finished because in three hours it starts again. Normally you cross the line and you're just enjoying the people and now you have the music really loud. When we arrived it was really strange, but we’re trying to stay focused and get the boat ready for the start. That’s our first objective.


0945 GMT / 1045 local time / 1145 CEST

Holcim PRB arrive in third place!!
Finish time:  20/08/2025 09:39:29
Elapsed time: 2 days, 17 hours, 39 minutes, 29 seconds 
Scoring: 5 points

 

0910 GMT / 1010 local time / 1110 CEST

And now it is Paprec Arkéa taking second place into Matosinhos and collecting six points. 
Finish time: 20/08/2025 09:07:28
Elapsed time: 2 days 17 hours 7 minutes 28 seconds
Scoring: 6 points 

0845 GMT / 0945 local time / 1045 CEST

Finish time: 20/08/2025 08:25:15
Elapsed Time: 2 days 16 hours 25 minutes 15 seconds
Scoring: 7 points


0830 GMT / 0930 local time / 1030 CEST

Paul Meilhat's Biotherm win the race to the Fly-By in Matosinshos! This leaves them perfect so far on the leaderboard, winning every point available!!!

0730 GMT / 0830 local time / 0930 CEST

How it works: The teams are racing to a finish line off Matoshinhos where they will collect points equal to a normal full leg (7 points for first, 6 for second, etc). The time they cross the line will be noted and in exactly three hours after they finish, each team is eligible to restart and continue Leg 2 to Cartagena. During their time at the Fly By in Matosinhos, the teams will dock, come ashore for an arrival ceremony, a chance for food and drink and some media interviews. 

0700 GMT / 0800 local time / 0900 CEST

Biotherm is racing towards the finishing line at high speed, over 20 knots, with Paprec Arkéa and Holcim PRB chasing hard. There may still be tense times ahead as the wind will ease near the coast and the finishing line.