In August 2025, the sailing world looked to Kiel with excitement. The Ocean Race Europe stopped off in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital - and offered a thrilling programme for five days. On the water, the professionals fought thrilling duels and a start that will live long in the memory. On land, the audience celebrated exuberantly - a combination that was obviously a hit: sailing professionals were enthusiastic, tens of thousands of spectators flocked to the Kiellinie every day. A start that put Kiel in the spotlight once again as a venue.
Kiel as Germany's sailing capital
According to Kiel Marketing, the state capital's marketing organisation, the event consolidated the city's position as Germany's sailing capital. This is particularly important in view of the Olympic ambitions. The conclusion: together with Kiel Week, the city once again proved with the Ocean Race that Kiel can organise major events.
At the same time, the city also came out on top compared to the other six Ocean Race Europe locations - Portsmouth, Porto, Cartagena, Nice, Genoa and Boka Bay. Across all criteria analysed in the study, the state capital came out on top. This is the case in the media, for example.
Spectacular take-off collision attracts attention
This is partly due to the start of the race, but even more so to the spectacular crash of the Holcim PRB and Allagrande Mapei teams shortly after the start. The Jury later delivered a verdictwhich Repair at Holcim PRB lasted several days.
Kiel accounted for just over a third of the event's total media attention. The fly-by 2023, when the Imocas were still sailing around the world and only came to the state capital for a flying visit, already showed that the German market can achieve very high access figures.
165,000 visitors and 57 million euros in sales
The event also paid off economically, according to the PWC study. According to the study, the Ocean Race Europe attracted around 165,000 spectators to the city. That is more than Portsmouth in the UK (115,000) and Boka Bay, Montenegro (109,000), which came in second and third place respectively.
41 per cent of Kiel's visitors travelled from other locations in Germany, 19 per cent came from the region, 34 per cent from Kiel itself and six per cent from outside Germany. A total of 570,700 people travelled to the Ocean Race events at the seven locations.
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The high visitor numbers also had another positive effect. The spectators brought around 57 million euros into the city, for example through overnight stays or local spending. In addition, 730 jobs were created along the Kiel Fjord, albeit only in the short term.
Ocean Race Europe is an image boost for Kiel
Kiel Marketing estimates the costs of the event at a total of 2.3 million euros. The city contributed 1.3 million euros, with the remainder covered by state funding, sponsorship and fees. A good deal. According to Kiel Marketing, the costs remained within the planned budget and the city itself benefited - on the one hand from the increased publicity and on the other from the improved image of the city.
Fabian Boerger
Editor News & Panorama
