STING IN THE TAIL

RECKON RACING AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN IS EASY? THINK AGAIN, SAYS MATTHEW SHEAHAN

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Compared to the complexity of the Vendée Globe - the 24,000-mile non-stop, solo lap of the planet that is widely acknowledged as the toughest summit in offshore racing - a fully crewed 4,500-mile stopping tour around Europe wasn't generally perceived as a challenge on the same level.

Add in a racecourse set on what was expected to be the flat and fluky conditions of the Mediterranean, and The Ocean Race Europe was easy to underestimate.

But while the original concept and evolution of the 60ft IMOCAs may have been based on heads-down, no-nonsense straight line blasting for thousands of miles, it turns out they can also deliver great racing on a course littered with obstacles and tactical challenges, all while locking horns with each other. The weather also turned out to be anything but endless drift-offs.

As the six-week Ocean Race Europe played out it became clear this was not only a very different way of racing for the fleet of seven IMOCAs, but the five-leg course was far tricker and more tactical than many - including the teams - had expected.

The start in Kiel was marked by a dramatic collision between Holcim PRB and Allagrande Mapei, which took both boats out of the opening leg and set them in a race against time to repair and reenter. Meanwhile, as the holes got patched up, the remaining five boats headed around the top of Denmark, down the North Sea and through the Dover Straits to the finish in Portsmouth.

On the face of it this was a very complicated and congested leg with plenty of obstacles from wind farms to traffic exclusion zones along with various notorious shallow areas. Yet the physical constraints removed some of the tactical decision making as the fleet was squeezed down the same narrow corridors.