Biotherm stays perfect while Holcim PRB slides into second place

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm (FRA) has won the third leg of The Ocean Race Europe in Nice on the French Riviera, after holding off Rosalin Kuiper’s Holcim - PRB (SUI) over a stormy final 24 hours at sea that saw a fierce Mediterranean storm packing howling winds up to 70 knots winds pass over the race course.

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.

“This one was so hard – the first full leg in the Mediterranean,” said a weary looking Meilhat after stepping ashore. “It was 100 per cent Mediterranean [conditions] – the wind was really tricky and it was so hot and warm during the first 36 hours. Then we had this conflict with the cold front, so really warm wind from the east on one side and then really cold wind from the west on the other side.

“Big thunderstorms everywhere, so the wind was not really predictable – sometimes we were two knots, sometimes we were 30 knots. We were in front so it was really hard to manage that with the fleet coming back every time.”

The fight for first

Meilhat said the fierce fight with Holcim - PRB had made the leg all the more exhausting for the Biotherm sailors who were never able to relax under the Swiss team’s constant pressure.

“It was a fantastic battle with Holcim - PRB from the start,” Meilhat said. “Through the scoring gate and over all the leg we were neck-and-neck. It was not easy. After this leg we are really tired because we did a lot of changes of sails and manoeuvres and we steered the boat a lot because the wind was changing all the time. We know we have just two days to get some sleep to try to come back to the race quickly.

Biotherm sailor Sam Goodchild (GBR) said that Leg 3 – the first full Mediterranean leg of the race – had been especially hard.

“It was really intense, a lot going on, with the forecast not really lining up to reality and a lot of having to adapt to what’s thrown at you,” he said. “A few storm clouds thrown in there – the Med’s complicated enough – so it was a full-on leg and we’re glad to have been able to keep the clean streak going.

“The only moment we felt ‘we have got this’ was about half a mile from the finish line when we could see wind between us and the finish. All night we felt like they were going quicker than us behind us and we were going into lighter winds – so we felt like they were catching up. The forecast was saying that we were going to park in front of Nice for a few hours to wait for the wind. All of that was not for relaxing.”

Holcim - PRB skipper Rosalin Kuiper said she and her crew were happy with their second place finish on Leg 3. The Swiss crew was unable to compete in the race’s opening stage from Kiel, Germany to Portsmouth, England after a collision with the Italian entry Allagrande Mapei shortly after the start.

“I am really happy with the second place. It’s the third leg in The Ocean Race Europe but it’s the second leg that we have sailed, so it’s a solid second place. Now it’s time to improve and step up in the next leg.

“It was an incredible leg. I have never experienced something like this: so many manoeuvres, all the weather models were different to what we saw on the water. So we had to be super flexible and dynamic and we didn’t sleep much – the crew is exhausted.

“We pushed so hard to get to Biotherm, we were so close. We had eye contact all the time, we could smell them, but in the end they beat us – so very well done to them, a very good competitor.

“The hardest part was for sure the changing conditions all the time. We couldn’t anticipate because the weather models told us different things. So you set up a sail and hoist it and then 30 minutes later you have 30 knots of wind and you need to drop it again. It’s very, very demanding, but this is our sport and it’s fantastic.”

Holcim - PRB helmsman Franck Cammas echoed his skipper’s sentiments, saying:

“This leg was so intense for everybody, for all the competitors, and for the crew of Holcim - PRB. We fought against Biotherm from the beginning to the end. Even two hours before the finish we hoped to overtake them. The battle is very nice. It’s what we love in The Ocean Race: to fight against the very best crew in the world and to be able to see them all the time.”

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.

“This is super-hard racing and this is why we love it,” Beccaria said. “We had a huge thunderstorm, a huge no wind zone, and then we had a lot of breeze for a Mediterranean race. Sometimes the wind was so crazy, but we enjoyed every moment of the race, even if it was very, very tough.

“We didn’t make all good choices but we are improving so much as a team and I am very proud of what we have achieved here today. Our boat is not designed to sail in light unstable winds like here, but as soon as we have wind we are flying. We love the boat and we love the team. We always know that for us when it is light it is difficult – but this is never a reason to give up.”

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.

“It was very tough. It was a typical Mediterranean Sea race with no wind, strong wind, and some damage for us with the J0 [a broken halyard deposited the massive headsail into the water yesterday]. So it was very tough but we are here and we have finished fourth – not too bad.”

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.

“We were 10 miles in front of Malizia yesterday but at the end we finished just one mile ahead,” he said. “So that was tough mentally.”

Herrmann said that although “from the outside it might have looked like a family summer cruise, it was really full-on all the time.”

“In the light winds it can be more work than in the strong winds,” he added. “But we had all conditions – from reefed and small headsails to spinnakers. We used all the sails which is not normally the case on most legs. It was all-the-time full-on action and enjoyable racing. It was so motivating to have our competition in sight all the time.”

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 and Alan Roura’s Team AMAALA are expected to complete Leg 3 later day with ETA between 1300 and 1400 local time in Nice.