THE OCEAN RACE EUROPE

IMOCA and VO65 fleets start Europe race in light conditions, en-route to a mid-week finish in Cascais, Portugal…
Divided into two classes of high-performance ocean-going racing yachts – the identical one-design VO65s, and the IMOCA 60 box-rule development class – The Ocean Race Europe fleet will race point-to-point first to Cascais, then on to Alicante, before finishing in Genova, Italy in mid-June.
Each offshore leg will be scored equally, but shorter coastal day races will be held in Cascais and Genova, when extra bonus points will be up for grabs for the top three finishers.
The powerful VO65 and foiling IMOCA 60 yachts are capable of 24-distance runs over 600 nautical miles (nm) / 1,111 kilometres in the right conditions out in the open ocean. During The Ocean Race Europe the crews are likely to experience changeable conditions as they first negotiate Europe’s Atlantic coast, before entering the enclosed waters of the Mediterranean.
The inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe got underway with a fleet of 12 high-performance ocean-going yachts setting off from Lorient, France on the opening leg to Cascais in Portugal.Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team did the best job of extracting themselves from the melee of boats at the start to slowly but sure eke out ahead to lead the 12-boat fleet at the Lorient exit gate.
This new three-stage European race has been created to showcase professional fully-crewed offshore racing and will see the fleet of 12 teams representing nine countries stop off in Cascais and Alicante, Spain on the way to the race finish in Genova, Italy on June 19.
The race start was broadcast to a worldwide audience on The Ocean Race digital platforms, as well as on Eurosport across the continent, in more than 20 languages. Coverage continues throughout the event on both platforms.