Ocean Race Europe: Déjà-vu - "Biotherm" wins, Malizia fights without pay

It was a short visit to Nice before the fleet continued the Ocean Race Europe on course for Genoa this Sunday: The teams only had two and a half days on the picturesque Bay of Engle to recover a little and get their Imocas back in shape. By the evening, the first bonus points had already been awarded. Team Malizia put up a good fight, but once again "Biotherm" and "Holcim-PRB" came out on top.

You could see it, hear it and even feel it: Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia started the fourth of the five stages of the Ocean Race Europe with obvious determination. The fact that they had slipped out of the top three in the overall standings after leg three provided plenty of extra motivation in the battle against the fast competition.

Team Malizia: Well fought, but no points

The seven boats started on time at 5 p.m. on Sunday in stage four of the five-part race with a final coastal race. They are heading for Genoa, where the Imocas are expected to arrive in the middle of the week. On their course, the teams will circumnavigate the French island of Corsica. At the Sunday start in the Baie des Anges, all crews relied on their XL Code Zeros and jostled for the best starting positions before aiming for the first scoring gate in eight knots of wind, which was around eight nautical miles off Monaco.

This is the home of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" club: the Yacht Club de Monaco. Naturally, Boris Herrmann and his team would have loved to have scored one or two bonus points right there, where the royal family was also watching the fleet with interest. However, despite an interim lead and a highly focussed battle, nothing came of it after around one and a half hours. "I'm happy with the start. We were in the lead at times, but in my opinion we were a little too far out to sea," said the skipper, explaining the narrowly missed points.

Just in time for the points distribution, the "usual suspects" had once again overtaken their German rivals. The fact that things looked very different a little later - "Holcim-PRB" had taken the lead ahead of "Malizia - Seaexplorer" at around 9 p.m. - did not help the new frontrunners to collect points early on. Click here for the live tracker, which shows the frequently changing positions at this early stage.

Big wave surfer Steudtner visits Ocean Race Europe

For all those who followed the start of the stage via the tracker, a big question mark had crept in during the race to the scoring gate. Once again, the tracker had a problem and had swallowed up large parts of the course to the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" scoring gate, which had temporarily "stopped" in the animation. This was nowhere near the reality, which big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner was also able to savour on this Sunday.

The German-Austrian extreme sportsman, who lives in Monaco, was on board as a so-called "leg jumper" until shortly before the start and said goodbye with a nice somersault from the outrigger into the gentle turquoise-coloured Mediterranean waters that day. Steudtner was particularly impressed by the teamwork of the Malizians. Back on land, he said: "In our sport, the wave takes centre stage. Where it breaks is the zone."

I immediately noticed the great freedom in sailing. And I was very impressed by the teamwork on board." Sebastian Steudtner

The course of the fourth leg takes the fleet on a 550 nautical mile round trip around Corsica, where the teams have to pass through the notorious Strait of Bonifacio. The eleven-kilometre passage leads the fleet between Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia and is known for its often strong winds, currents and shallows. The field then heads to Genoa, the host city for the grand finale of the first Ocean Race Europe four years ago.

No bonus points for "Paprec Arkéa"

"Paprec Arkéa" skipper Yoann Richomme, back in the game after retiring on leg three like Pascal Bidégorry, had predicted before the fourth leg start that the first 24 hours could be decisive for the fleet's results in Genoa. He said: "First of all, we have some wind here in Nice to push us around the scoring gate in Monaco - so it should be really nice." And so it turned out, even if the beauty from the crew's point of view on "Paprec Arkéa" was not granted perfection in the form of bonus points.

Yoann Richomme went on to say: "We will have to cross a zone of very light wind during the night before we move into the new wind tomorrow." Boris Herrmann sent a short clip from this zone in the evening, signalling an almost leaden calm. Herrmann said: "The weight is in front, Loïs is steering, there is the moon and here is the boat. The coast looks pretty cool. It's just getting started..."

Richomme had said that the island of Corsica, with its towering mountain ranges, would have an influence on how close the crews would approach the island. "The race around Corsica is always very difficult because the mountains on the island are big and their slipstreams are huge. So it will be a very interesting race on the way to Bonifacio and then on to Genoa."

Italian passion in the Ocean Race Europe

There is only one goal on this leg to his home country for Ambrogio Beccaria (ITA), skipper of the Italian-flagged "Allagrande Mapei Racing": to be the first to cross the finish line in Genoa. Born in Milan, he considers the city to be his second home because he built and launched his Class 40 yacht there in 2022.

The burning desire to make a "bella figura" on the Genoa course also drives Italian-American Francesca Clapcich in Team Malizia. She now lives with her family in the USA, but grew up in Turin. "Frankie" Clapcich knew before the start: "Timing will be crucial when we pass the Strait of Bonifacio. Depending on the timing, we could be exposed to strong westerly winds that are accelerated by the strait."

The 2023 Ocean Race winner continued: "Along the Italian coast, there is then a waypoint off Tuscany and a few zigzags off the Gulf of Genoa before the finish. The conditions in Genoa itself look easy again, so there could be a restart towards the end." With light winds, strong breezes and many transitions, the fourth leg promises to be exciting right up to the finish.

Crossing the Mediterranean with the Ocean Race Europe

Francesca Clapcich also drew attention to the not so well-known challenges of the area, saying: "The Mediterranean really is a special place, almost like a different ecosystem that not so many people know about. I grew up there and I know a lot about the coastal and local effects in this part of the world."

The "Malizia - Seaexplorer" co-skipper and future owner explained: "Everyone talks about the Atlantic or the Pacific, but the Mediterranean is not yet so well researched and the weather here can be very unpredictable. The forecast models don't always match reality, so it often comes down to the sailors on board, their instincts and their ability to read the local effects to make the best decisions in the moment."

REPLAY! Watch the replay of the start of leg four of the Ocean Race Europe here: