The Ocean Race Europe is an offshore

yacht race Yacht racing is a Sailing (sport), sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marke ...

around Europe created and run by the organisers of

The Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

. Its inaugural edition is the 2021 Ocean Race Europe, which began 25 May 2021 as a three-leg course from Lorient,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. A second edition is planned for 2025 The Ocean Race Europe is planned to take place every four years, with a two-year interval between installments of The Ocean Race Europe and

. This would allow teams to take part in an Ocean Race-related competition every two years.

Background

In 2018,

was taken under new ownership by The Ocean Race 1973 SLU, a successor company to Atlant Ocean Racing. This ended the twenty-year-long period of ownership of The Ocean Race by the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars, although Volvo was retained as a sponsor and premier partner. A ten-year plan confirming future editions of The Ocean Race on a four-year cycle was announced in July 2020. After the 2021 Ocean Race was postponed to 2022-23 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the event's owners carried out a feasibility study on a potential European race in 2021. The 2021 Ocean Race Europe was announced in October 2020, with entries opening in January 2021. Twelve teams were announced for the 2021 Ocean Race Europe; seven teams competed in Volvo Ocean 65s (VO65s), while five others competed in IMOCA 60s.

Yachts

The 2021 Ocean Race Europe used

foiling A sailing hydrofoil, hydrofoil sailboat, or hydrosail is a sailboat with wing-like foils mounted under the hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils lift the hull up and out of the water, greatly reducing wetted area, resulting in dec ...

IMOCA 60s and the one-design VO65s. The two classes compete at the same time and along the same route, with separate winners and prizes in each class. All boats are fully-crewed and have female crew members on board. Both the IMOCA 60s and VO65s will contest the 2023 Ocean Race.

Overview

2021 edition

The 2021 Ocean Race Europe began 25 May 2021 on a three-leg course from Lorient to Genoa, with stops in

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. A ten-day, four-leg race from Klaipėda,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

to the South Swedish Waypoint was organised by four of the seven VO65 teams in the lead-up to the 2021 Ocean Race Europe. Team Childhood 1 took overall victory. The first leg of the 2021 Ocean Race Europe, from Lorient to Cascais, commenced on 29 May 2021. It was won in the IMOCA 60 class by CORUM L'Épargne, and in the VO65 class by The Austrian Ocean Race Project. The first of two coastal races was held in Cascais on 5 June 2021. It was won in the IMOCA 60 class by Offshore Team Germany, and in the VO65 class by Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team. The second leg of the 2021 Ocean Rage Europe, from Cascais to Alicante, commenced on 6 June 2021. 11th Hour Racing Team were forced to return to Cascais after a collision that damaged their port foil. The team resumed racing later that same day after their damaged foil was removed.

2025 edition

A second edition has been announced for 2025. The start is planned to take place 10. August 2025 in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

, Germany, with a finish in the

Mediterranean sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and up to five intermediate stops to be announced in spring 2024.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean Race Europe, The Recurring sporting events established in 2021 The Ocean Race Offshore sailing competitions