The fourth leg of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 got underway from Nice in the kind of Mediterranean conditions that make racing look effortless from the shore. Sunshine and sparkling seas greeted the IMOCA fleet at the 1700 local time start, a steady eight-knot breeze filling their Code Zeros as they powered away from the line.
At the pin end, Holcim-PRB, skippered for this leg by France's Nico Lunven, made the sharpest getaway of anyone. Paul Meilhat's Biotherm launched cleanly from the windward side, while Team Amaala took the bold decision to split from the group immediately, heading off on port tack from the gun.
The first prize of the leg was settled quickly. Just eight miles in, Biotherm hit the Monaco scoring gate first, banking two points, with Holcim-PRB arriving close behind to claim one. The rest of the fleet passed through in tight formation, a clear signal that the 550-nautical mile run to Genova was going to be decided in margins rather than miles.
The pleasant conditions did not last. As the sun dropped, the breeze dropped with it, leaving the fleet picking through stretches of near calm along the French and Corsican coasts. The game shifted entirely, becoming a test of patience and concentration as much as boat speed, with sail trim and positioning taking on an outsized importance.
Paprec Arkéa, with Yoann Richomme back in the skipper's seat, found a way to keep the boat moving when others faltered, edging into a slender lead through the night. But the advantage never grew comfortable. By dawn, Holcim-PRB, Biotherm, and Italy's Allagrande Mapei had all clawed back into contention, the four boats separated by barely a handful of miles.
Biotherm's Amélie Grassi captured the tension of those hours: "We've been fighting since early evening in very little wind. It wasn't easy on the nerves, but staying close to the coast paid off for us."
By midday Monday, attention was turning to the Strait of Bonifacio. The notorious 11-kilometre channel separating Corsica from Sardinia has a reputation for testing sailors with unpredictable shifts, tricky currents, and sudden gusts. In a race this tight, it carried the potential to be the moment that decided everything.
Holcim-PRB held the thinnest of leads on the tracker as the fleet approached, though Biotherm, Paprec Arkéa, and Allagrande Mapei were all within striking range. Further back, Team Malizia, Be Water Positive, and Team Amaala trailed by around 20 miles, still close enough that a reshuffling of conditions could bring them back into the picture.
Alan Roberts, racing aboard Holcim-PRB, laid out what the strait would demand: "We can see Corsica. The night has been good. Now it's going to be about tacking, transitions, and keeping calm through the strait. Whoever gets out first will have a big advantage north to Genova."
The hundreds of miles remaining promised no easy passage. Mediterranean summer weather is rarely straightforward, capable of swinging from flat calms to thunderstorms and waterspouts with little warning.
Britain's Pip Hare, sailing with Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive, put it plainly: "Underneath Corsica is going to be interesting. If you arrive early, you could get hammered. If you arrive late, you might get nothing. It's still all to play for."
The motivations across the fleet are sharply different. For Ambrogio Beccaria and Allagrande Mapei, the finish in Genova is deeply personal, a home-city arrival to chase. Biotherm is focused on protecting their overall lead. Holcim-PRB and Paprec Arkéa, sitting close together in the points table, know that every decision and every metre counts.
Whatever the outcome, the finish into Genova will not reveal itself until the very last miles are behind them.
