Ocean Race Europe: From cheerful to ambitious - the skippers' wishes for leg one

The atmosphere was exuberant in Kiel's starting harbour on the Sunday of the Ocean Race Europe. The final interviews, film shoots and photo shoots with the skippers were followed by the dockout ceremonies with the team songs and the parade from the Blücherbrücke bridge via the inner fjord to the start line in Strander Bucht. Tens of thousands of visitors travelled along the shores and on the water in the Ocean Live Park.

During final discussions with the skippers of the seven Imocas, we asked them about their wishes for the first leg of the race from Kiel to Portsmouth, for which the starting signal was given at 3.50 pm on Sunday afternoon. Click here for the live tracker.

Scott Shawyer, Team Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive (Canada):

"A wish? We are a very new team. Our wish is to be competitive and to be able to sail it well with these guys and girls who have much more established crews and much more experience in handling their boats. We're not just a new team, we're also new to this boat. It's a great boat. We have to make sure that we can sail it. Not sailing in the traditional sense, but with the best settings, which we haven't even got to know in our short time with the boat. Canada is probably an outsider, but outsiders have the potential to surprise."

Alan Roura, Team Amaala (Switzerland/Saudi Arabia):

"My wish is to enjoy what we do. The last three months have been really tough. That we've managed to be here now! We are very proud and happy that we have succeeded. The whole team has achieved this together. Now it's up to the sailors to sail the race. My wish is to enjoy the race as much as we can. We'll see the result at the end. The most important thing is to do everything with a smile."

Ambrogio Beccaria, Allagrande Mapei Racing (Italy):

"Our first wish is to finally get started. Then we want to have a lot of fun. Now is the most difficult moment. Relaxing only comes after the start. The sport is very stressful. You think about the scenarios, what can happen. The mistakes you can make..."

Paul Meilhat, Team Biotherm (France)

"My wish is to get points at the first scoring gate. They could still be worth a lot. So we will try to start quickly. The scoring gate comes just minutes after the start. It will be a windy race in the first 24 hours. Then we have to cross an area of high pressure. We have a fast and nice start ahead of us. So there's a good mix ahead. That's offshore sailing!"

Rosalin Kuiper, Team Holcim-PRB (Switzerland)

"Joy and fun, that's my wish! Joy for our crew, joy for our team, joy for everyone associated with the Ocean Race Europe. And joy for all the people watching the race from land."

Yoann Richomme, Team Paprec Arkéa (France)

"My wish? We want to be at least in the top three at the end of the stage. That would be good. Being outside would make it more difficult for the rest of the race. We were last in the first Ocean Race Europe on the first leg with Mirpuri (editor's note: in the end Yoann Richomme and the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team won the Ocean Race Europe in the VO65 class), even though we were leading the whole time. So I know it's only the first leg. It's a long-term game with many opportunities and chances to win points. I have a long-term plan for it in my head. Winning the first stage would obviously be nice. The top three is definitely the goal."

Boris Herrmann, Team Malizia (Germany)

"If I can wish, then victory. And first at the scoring gate. Maximum points!"

The Ocean Race Europe, the sports show, the start: