The Ocean Race: Farewell and departure after the final festival in Genoa

Worthy winners, happy teams, an exuberant atmosphere and many tears of farewell: the 14th Ocean Race came to an end at the weekend with a grand final celebration in the harbour of Genoa. All the teams - winners and losers - were honoured. Team Malizia lifted the trophy for third place into the sky. Boris Herrmann's spirited co-skipper Will Harris, who represented the Hamburg native on two legs, was also honoured as the best newcomer with the Hans Horrevoets Rookie Award.

Forgotten on this day were all the dramas on the water and on land that characterised this latest chapter in the 50-year history of the race, as well as the passion of the protagonists for the sea marathon and their best moments.

Promising marriage of Ocean Race and Imoca class

The successful marriage of the Ocean Race and the Imoca class was also celebrated. The gamble of taking off into the future with just five Imocas is likely to have paid off. Everyone involved is predicting a significant increase in the number of participants for the 15th The Ocean Race in 2026/2027.

This also applies to Imoca Class President Antoine Mermod, who enthusiastically took stock in Genoa and said: "I would like to offer my warmest congratulations to the five teams that completed this regatta! It was a tough race for the sailors and incredibly complicated and hard for the shore teams, who worked day and night during the very short stopovers."

It was a good first race for the Imoca class in the Ocean Race" (Antoine Mermod)

The Frenchman continued in Italy: "I would also like to recognise the contribution of the reporters on board, who told the story in a way that we have never seen before. I think everyone involved in this story will remember it for a long time. It was a very good first race for the Imocas in The Ocean Race." Mermod said the race had shown that the Imoca fleet sailed by full crews and round the world sailing were a great combination.

Then Mermod became philosophical: "I'm over the moon today, because when you change something - when you build something new - it's always a challenge with many unknowns. But we have shown that the boats are technically at the right level to do this race. We've also learnt a lot about how we can improve them, but also about reliability, the way the boats sail, the fatigue of many components - the race has given us a lot of information."

The great moments of Team Malizia

In the grand finale, Team Malizia once again reviewed its great moments with third place in the Ocean Race premiere: the repair of the mast in the Southern Ocean, the victory on the Cape Horn King stage, the world record over the 24-hour distance (641.13 nautical miles) and the victory on stage seven.

Team manager Holly Cova said that the Ocean Race takes over your whole life: "I really think it's an amazing, amazing race to do. Racing around the world gets under your skin and doesn't let you go. It's true: you get so close to the other teams and learn so much from each other. You also learn so much about your boat - you break everything there is to break and then you fix it quickly."

Without the others in the team, the sailors don't get any further" (Holly Cova)

According to Boris Herrmann's team director Holly Cova, the secret to the race's success lies in the strength of a team that has to stick together to overcome all the challenges that the race brings. "Team cohesion is key because you really have to give it your all," she explained, "I mean the whole team, every single person, not just the sailors, but everyone - 40 people. The sailors play a very important role, of course, but without the others in the team, they won't get anywhere. Every single person, from the youngest to the oldest, plays such an important role."

Paul Meilhat, skipper of fourth-placed team Biotherm, said the Ocean Race is for people who want to change and have new experiences. "Benjamin Dutreux, Boris Herrmann and I have always craved change," he said. "So if I had to say why we did this race, it was to do something different, a change from what we're used to. Also to enrich ourselves and discover new things everywhere."

Off to new shores: The Ocean Race continues to evolve

With the 14th edition of The Ocean Race, a new generation of sailors has set out to make their mark on the most important crewed regatta in the world. Paul Meilhat said: "The organisation is new, sailing with a crew is new for us. And travelling to other countries is new. Everything is new - the Pro-Am races, the harbour races, the teams and the team bases. I think that's great. You also experience very strong emotions in the Ocean Race - unlike in solo races, you are much more involved in the exchange of feelings. And you experience seven starts, seven finishes, seven harbour races - that's enormous."

At 11th Hour Racing Team, winners of the anniversary edition of the Ocean Race, CEO Mark Towill hopes that the success of this event will encourage the class to expand its range of fully crewed events. Mark Towill said: "I am optimistic, or at least hopeful, that there will be a programme within the class for solo or double-handed sailors and also a programme for crewed sailors that will allow teams that are more Anglo-Saxon or Ocean Race focused to organise events on an annual basis."

The Ocean Race Europe offers an introduction to sailing around the world

Antoine Mermod assured YACHT online that the Imoca class is working on this beyond the events already scheduled until 2025/2026. The Ocean Race Europe in 2025 at the latest will provide information on how the Imoca class and its two directions - solo sailing and team sailing - are developing in terms of events and participant numbers.

"Guyot" co-skipper Robert Stanjek explained that with the second Ocean Race Europe, a regatta was on the horizon that would offer many teams a comparatively low barrier to entry into team sailing with Imocas. Perhaps even a new Ocean Race attempt of their own. Team manager Jens Kuphal's Offshore Team Germany wants to think about this after the difficult premiere, steep learning curve and emotional farewell evening.

Jens Kuphal's farewell words in Genoa

Looking back on his own journey on this adventure, Jens Kuphal said: "In sporting terms, we certainly didn't achieve what we had imagined and wished for. But this race, with all its stories, is so much more than just a sporting competition on the water. Over the last six months, we have had to overcome a number of situations and challenges, but we have always come back and written our very own story. Many new connections and friendships have been forged along the way. We are very proud to be part of The Ocean Race family from now on."

"Ocean Race - 32,000 nautical miles of adventure" - the finale in the sportSTUDIO report from ZDF:

"Hard Water"! Click here for the start of the NDR documentary series on the 14th The Ocean Race:

Click here for the final classification of the 14th The Ocean Race.