The Ocean Race Europe to make historic stop in Nice, France
by The Ocean Race 13 Mar 2025 17:21 UTC
29-31 August 2025
Baie des Anges and sea view of Old Nice © Julien VERAN
The Ocean Race Europe, the premiere fully-crewed, offshore sailing race for the foiling IMOCA Class, will visit the Mediterranean coast of France for the first time this summer.
The Ocean Race Europe, which showcases the best female and male IMOCA sailors in the world in a race that connects the Baltic with the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas with races between seven iconic cities and countries, is adding a French stopover to its summer race route.
The historic stop in Nice marks the first time an event under the banner of The Ocean Race will visit the Mediterranean coast of France and offers a unique opportunity for the French offshore sailing community to engage with a new audience.
"France is a foundational base for so many of the IMOCA sailors and teams, where traditionally the focus has been on the Atlantic coast, so this is an exciting time for us to showcase the sailors, teams and the sport in one of the iconic waterfront venues in the country," said Phil Lawrence, Race Director, The Ocean Race.
The Ocean Race Europe is organised under the theme 'Connecting Europe' and will link together seven cities and countries across the continent, supporting the EU Mission in engaging citizens and local communities to protect and restore the health of the ocean.
The race stopover follows UNOC 3 (the United Nations Ocean Conference) which will be in Nice in June and is focussed on accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean, and where The Ocean Race and its partners will participate and host a side event.
The Ocean Race Europe stopover in Nice will build on the momentum from UNOC to protect and restore ocean health with its award-winning Racing with Purpose programme built around ocean literacy and learning, ocean science, and advocacy.
The sailors and the teams will be participating in ocean science initiatives while racing through European waters, collecting important ocean data and water samples with on board scientific instruments. This information is shared with science organisations around the world studying ocean health and meteorology and contributes to the scientific community's understanding of the pressures facing the ocean due to human activity.
The Ocean Race Europe will start on Sunday 10 August, 2025 from Kiel, Germany with the mixed male/female crews of the IMOCA fleet racing through the Baltic Sea and North Sea and into the English Channel for a quick stop in Portsmouth, UK from the 14th to 17th August.
From there, the race continues with a Fly-By via Portugal (20th August), before entering the Mediterranean Sea en route to Cartagena, Spain (23rd-26th August).
The short stop in Nice is next, from the 29th-31st August, before the fleet continues on to Genova, Italy (3rd-7th September) and The Finale on the Adriatic Sea in Boka Bay, Montenegro from the 15th-21st September.
In addition to the racing on the water, The Ocean Race Europe will have a strong focus on ocean health.
Christian Estrosi, the Mayor of Nice, and Président de la Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, Président délégué de la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur:
"As the City of Nice has just launched its Year of the Sea and is preparing to host the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in June, I am very pleased to welcome, for the first time, The Ocean Race Europe - a sailing race that highlights team spirit, connects European cities, and collects valuable scientific data for researchers. This Nice stopover will offer the public a spectacular show and provide participants with the enchanting setting of our Baie des Anges. With The Ocean Race Europe, Nice reaffirms its ability to host major events and its commitment to promoting all initiatives aimed at sustainably preserving our ocean."
The team line-up for the Race includes: Team Maliza (GER) skipper Boris Herrmann; Team Holcim PRB (SUI) skipper Rosalin Kuiper; Team Paprec Arkéa (FRA) skipper Yoann Richomme; Vulnerable - TR Racing (FRA) skipper Thomas Ruyant and the Be Water Positive Sailing Team (CAN) skipper Scott Shawyer. Additional team announcements and full crew confirmations are expected over the coming weeks.
Yoann Richomme, the skipper of Paprec Arkéa, and the winner of the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe in 2021 in the VO65 class said: "I'm very happy that The Ocean Race Europe is stopping in Nice. I was born in Fréjus, not so far away, and I've raced a lot in the South of France during my career. I also have family ties to Nice. I know the city well, and it's truly fantastic to be able to show off our incredible IMOCA racing boats there. Visiting a new French city on The Ocean Race Europe was something we really wanted to see happen, and it's excellent news. It will be a real pleasure to meet the public on the Côte d'Azur.
"The entire Paprec Arkéa team is very excited to visit so many countries and iconic cities on The Ocean Race Europe. We'll be breaking new ground and sharing a new experience. This is truly the mission of this race - to experience the journey, encounter other cultures and discover new waters to race on, is very exciting," continued Richomme, who earned an impressive second place finish in the recent Vendée Globe.
"We will take advantage of this European race to conduct valuable scientific surveys. This will help the community better understand the current state of our seas. It's an additional benefit to our sport and doing this kind of science around Europe is an important project - I'm sure we'll have a lot of information to share with the scientists."
The Ocean Race Europe 2025 is one of three major events on The Ocean Race calendar over the next three years, which includes The Ocean Race Atlantic: New York to Barcelona in September 2026 and the next edition of The Ocean Race (around the world), scheduled to start in January 2027. Ongoing initiatives around ocean health, learning and ocean science mean The Ocean Race is 'always on'.