The Real Club de Regata de Cartagena presented on Tuesday the details of the departure and arrival of the third stage of The Ocean Race Europe 2025, where the global fleet of monohull boats of the IMOCA 60 class will meet in the town of Cartagena from August 23 to 26. The event will also include numerous activities focused on sustainability and the health of the oceans.
The return to Europe will start in Kiel (Germany) on August 6 and conclude in Boka Bay (Montenegro) on September 21. On August 23, the fleet, consisting of 8 to 10 boats, will arrive in Cartagena from Matosinhos-Porto (Portugal).
During these three days, activities such as The Ocean Race Experience, the opening of the Ocean Live Park, boat rides, and the sailors’ parade will take place, culminating with the departure of the stage on August 26 towards the port of Nice (France). The Ocean Race will also pass through Portsmouth (United Kingdom) and Genoa (Italy).
The director of the Cartagena stopover, Patricio Rosas, opened the presentation event, which was attended by the Mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo; the Councilor for Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Sports, Carmen Conesa; the President of the Port Authority of Cartagena, Pedro Pablo Hernández; and the co-president of The Ocean Race, Johan Salen, among other authorities.
Arroyo explained that everyone is «united» for this event. «In 7,000 kilometers of travel, The Ocean Race chooses Cartagena as the only stopover in Spain. That’s called ‘Marca Cartagena’. We have to believe it, and Cartagena will be the global focus of sailing in August 2025,» she said.
Conesa highlighted that the event «is a great opportunity to showcase the Region of Murcia as a prominent tourist destination in the Mediterranean, ideal for the practice of sailing sports and top-level nautical events.» «We have two seas, and we are working on the sports-tourism strategy that will bring 73 regattas to the Mar Menor and 200 days of tourism destocking,» she said.
Additionally, Hernández emphasized the importance of «sustainability as the goal of port operations and the relevance of city-port integration in this race, installing the Ocean Live Park on the seafront.» Finally, Salen recounted the history of the start of the return to Europe, an idea that was born in 2018 and resumed in 2021 after the pandemic.
The Ocean Live Park will extend from the Explanada del Puerto, covering the entire Paseo Marítimo and the Plaza de las Cartagenas. Experience 43 and Alviento will also join these spaces, creating a vibrant environment full of activities. The event will be free and open to the public, starting at 10 in the morning and closing at midnight, with activities for all ages, both at the Explanada del Puerto and at the Plaza de las Cartagenas, where a main stage with giant screens will be set up.
There will also be sea baptisms and regattas, navigation simulators, workshops on ocean conservation, live concerts, street performances, and visits to historic ships.
On Sunday the 24th, the awards ceremony will be held, followed by a grand party at the main stage. On Monday the 25th, the boats will engage in speed races, visible from the cruise ship dock and the screens of the Ocean Live Park. Finally, on Tuesday the 26th, the city will bid farewell to the teams as they set sail towards Nice.
