Italy’s Ambrogio Beccaria’s dream comes true as Allagrande Mapei Racing claim a spectacular home victory in Genova

Ambrogio Beccaria’s Italian-flagged entry Allagrande Mapei Racing team has pulled off a spectacular home-team victory after winning Leg 4 of The Ocean Race 2025 in style in Genova, Italy in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Beccaria and his all-French crew – renowned multiple Vendée Globe competitor Thomas Ruyant, Morgan Lagravière – Ruyant's regular training partner and co-skipper for his Route du Rhum in 2022 and Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 victories, and 2023 49erFX Junior World Champion, Manon Peyre – finished the 600-nautical mile leg from Nice, France at 23:42:14 UTC on Tuesday September 2 (01:42:14 local time on Wednesday September 3) after completing the course in two days, eight hours, 41 minutes, and 14 seconds.

For the Italian skipper it was the fulfilment of a dream he had expressed at the start of the leg when he identified the team’s primary goal was to be first into Genova – a city that became his home during the build of his Class 40 yacht in 2022.

“I always want to win every leg,” he said after coming ashore. “But this one was special because the finish was in Italy. We were improving so well as a team – in the last leg we were third, but we knew we could do better. So why not dream big and try to win this leg?”

Second home, finishing at 00:32:05 UTC (02:32:05 local time), was Yoann Richomme’s French entry Team Paprec Arkéa. The overall race leader – Paul Melihat’s Biotherm – finished in third place on the leg.

The course for Leg 4 saw the seven-boat fleet leave Nice in upwind mode, racing along the Côte d'Azur on the way to a nearby Scoring Gate off Monaco. Biotherm led at the gate to collect two points, followed by the Swiss entry Team Holcim - PRB – skippered for this leg by Frenchman Nico Lunven – who picked up one point.

From there the fleet had a slow night at sea as the closely packed fleet made its way down the western side of the Corsica in light winds, staying well offshore to avoid the windshadow thrown by the French island’s towering mountain ranges. Holcim - PRB led through the Strait of Bonifacio – that separates Corsica in the north and Sardinia in the south – and were the first to benefit from the stronger, steadier southerly wind that whisked the foiling IMOCAs north at speeds over 20 knots.

While the top four teams – Holcim - PRB, Biotherm, Paprec Arkéa, Biotherm, and Allagrande Mapei – made a swift passage through the Strait of Bonifacio, the remaining three crews – Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia (GER), Scott Shawyer’s Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive, and Alan Roura’s Team AMAALA (SUI/KSA) were delayed by lighter winds and could only watch as the leading group pulled away.

Soon after the leading group passed the Italian island of Elba shortly before midnight on Monday night, it was Allagrande Mapei that hit the front – even after having suffered a power outage that had wiped out the boat’s instrumentation for an hour leaving the crew effectively sailing blind.

Despite having to fend off fierce attacks from their three closest rivals, the Allagrande Mapei sailors held their collective nerve in the light winds that prevailed in the Gulf of Genova, to round the western waypoint off Alassio two miles ahead of Paprec Arkéa and Biotherm.

The breeze softened again on the way back across the gulf to the final waypoint before the finish, slowing the leaders to an almost stop. Still in the lead, the crew of the Italian boat were the first to feel the welcome breath of a fresh new breeze generated by a nearby Mediterranean low pressure system and began to quickly extend their advantage at the front of the fleet. They extended their lead at the final waypoint to 20 nautical miles over second placed Paprec Arkéa, as they tore northward at downwind foiling speeds up to 25 knots.

Irrespective of this considerable lead, with a huge light wind zone blocking the path to the Leg 4 finish off Genova, the Italian boat’s victory was far from assured. Things got really tense in the latter part of this evening when Allagrande Mapei started to slow in the light winds closer to shore and Paprec Arkéa – still in the stronger breeze – started to inexorably close down the delta. By midnight the gap was down to just eight miles.

In the end, Beccaria and crew managed to hold their concentration and keep their boat moving well enough to pick up a stream of offshore drainage breeze that saw them pull away once again in the final miles to the finish to confirm their leg win and collect seven valuable points.

Beccaria said the racing had been intense throughout the leg with the top four always within striking distance of each other, but made even more so when the crew could not start their engine to charge their batteries and had to reboot the boat.

“The top four boats were always very close, until the end when there was some separation, but before the last transition all four were within two or three miles after two days of racing.

“We had a huge turning point on the big downwind from Bonifacio to la Spezzia, where at one point we tried to charge our battery and the engine didn’t start. So we had to shut down the whole boat, steer the boat with nothing – at night. Morgan succeeded in repairing the alternator and we were able to go on with the race. But that moment could have been the end for us.”

After crashing out of the opening leg with damage after a collision with Holcim - PRB shortly after the start in Kiel, Beccaria said the Leg 4 victory went some way towards rewarding the entire team’s hard work to get them back in the race.

“I am really happy for all of the people who have worked on this project, it’s really wonderful,” he said. “Everybody thought we would be out of the race, but now we have even won the leg in Genova. It’s huge, it’s wonderful.”

Paprec Arkéa skipper Richomme said he and his crew were pleased with their second place in Leg 4, particularly after such close racing for most of the route.

“It was a really great fight with the three others,” he said. “We had an amazing race, I think everyone was in the lead at some point. They [Allagrande Mapei] took off in a little gust yesterday afternoon and just kept pulling away. And then there was this massive difference in wind. I think nobody can be happier to win at home than Ambrogio so we are happy for him and happy to be second as well.

Completing the podium was Paul Meilhat's Biotherm team. The finish in Genoval marked the first time the French team has not collected the maximum points at a scoring opportunity during this edition of The Ocean Race Europe - a remarkable run that Meilhat said was destined to come to an end.

"Of course you always want to win and the more you do it, the more you expect it, so we're a little bit disappointed," he said. "But we never expected to win everything and of course the level here is very, very high so finishing third after such good racing is not so bad."

After forming a breakaway quartet with the podium finishers, Team Holcim PRB fell back in final 12 hours of racing, watching helplessly as boats that had been within sight found new breeze and simply raced away from them while they struggled to find the wind. It was a solid fourth place finish that could easily have been a better result. 

Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive came home in fifth place, with Pip Hare pleased with the result, but equally frustrated there couldn't have been more.

"I'm so proud of the team. To have this great battle with Malizia over the past day and to come out on top is a real tribute to the full crew," Hare said. 

It wasn't a result to remember for Malizia and skipper Boris Herrmann will be looking for a bounce back on the final offshore leg to Boka Bay, the longest of The Ocean Race Europe. 

Team Amaala finished in seventh place - a familiar position for the team. But in reality, with an older generation, slower boat, and the least experienced crew, another leg staying in touch with the rest of the fleet is a victory of its own kind for skipper Alan Roura and his team. 

The Road to Boka Bay get underway Sunday, with the Finale leg of The Ocean Race Europe scheduled to start at 1500. 

Provisional Leaderboard:

Biotherm - 41 points
Paprec Arkéa - 29 points
Team Holcim-PRB - 27.3 points (including leg 1 redress)
Allagrande Mapei - 19 points
Team Malizia - 18 points
Be Water Positive - 13 points
Team Amaala - 7 points