Biotherm returns to offshore racing
Biotherm is ready to share its message of blue beauty through offshore racing.
Raising awareness on the importance of preserving our oceans
Biotherm is launching back into the world of offshore racing through a collaboration with renowned skipper Paul Meilhat. Together, the blue beauty skin care brand and the French skipper have embarked on an ambitious ambitious mission: using sailing to increase awareness around the threats facing our ocean as a part of the brand’s 2030 sustainability commitments. Find out more about Biotherm’s bold new commitment.
Biotherm has an ambitious racing program for the next few years: Paul Meilhat will take on the Route du Rhum in 2022, The Ocean Race in 2023, and the Vendée Globe in 2024. An IMOCA like Biotherm will take approximately two years to be at top performance. Every race, every navigation, provides critical data for the sailing team to understand how the IMOCA responds to outside factors.
Biotherm’s first major race, the Route du Rhum, is fast approaching with the Biotherm IMOCA setting sail on November 6th.
Biotherm, racing with purpose
Biotherm has dedicated itself to Blue Beauty – beauty that comes from water and gives back to it. Born from water and with a deeply held love for the ocean, the brand is ready to make waves and bring its message of blue beauty to millions around the world.
More than a winning combination of technical prowess and superior technology, Biotherm will also be racing with purpose. Sensors will be installed on the vessel to capture information about the health of our oceans, as part of a collaboration with Biotherm’s long-time partner, the Tara Ocean Foundation. The data will inform Tara’s ongoing research efforts and help to further understand the health of our ocean.
"As Biotherm celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2022, I am thrilled that we are going back to our roots in offshore racing. More than an incredible racer, Paul Meilhat is a true Water Lover. He is someone who shares our vision that we need to take action to protect our ocean. Biotherm IMOCA is at the crossroads of everything that Biotherm stands for: cutting-edge performance with a powerful message for the ocean behind it. We can’t wait to see this vision set sail."
Gregory Benoit, Biotherm Global Brand President
Route du Rhum: Biotherm’s first test in an ambitious racing calendar
Biotherm’s first major race will be the Route du Rhum in November 2022. Since 1978, this has grown to become one of the world’s biggest sporting events. The simplicity of the challenge – one sailor, one boat, and the ocean – combined with its difficulty – crossing the Atlantic alone as fast as possible – have made the Route du Rhum an unmissable international event. Over two million people flocked to the French town of Saint-Malo for the start of the last race in 2018. Biotherm will then line up for The Ocean Race on 15 January 2023 in Alicante, Spain. This is a crewed round-the-world race with stopovers and is widely recognized as one of the toughest team tests around. With its ‘Racing with Purpose’ initiative, the Ocean Race is also a strong advocate for environmental causes – a message which aligns perfectly with that of Meilhat and Biotherm.
Biotherm, skincare powered by bioscience
Since 1952, Biotherm has amplified the power of nature to create premium skin care that is more natural, more potent, and more sustainable. Since 2012, Biotherm has actively participated in protecting the oceans through the Water Lovers program, which aims to create a better future for the oceans by collaborating with outside experts & NGO partners such as Mission Blue, Tara Ocean Foundation, Surfrider Foundation Europe and the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco.
A history of offshore racing
Supporting a better future for the oceans
Biotherm embraces a global sustainability approach across its entire value chain, from sourcing and product formulation to packaging and retail. High-performing renewable ingredients are used to create skincare formulas that are effective on skin and gentler on the planet. By drawing on the brand’s bioscience expertise, Biotherm crafts its formulas to be more respectful of marine and aquatic life, from sourcing ingredients right through to end of life. The brand is also innovating to introduce more circular economy principles, incorporating more recycled materials in packaging, and introducing disruptive consumer experiences such as refillable and rechargeable products. Biotherm wants to continue to go further in its mission to give back to the ocean by becoming ocean positive by 2030.
Paul Meilhat, a strong supporter of the environment
Winner of the Route du Rhum in 2018, over the years, Paul Meilhat has become an activist, advocate and protector of the environment. In 2010, he started organizing beach cleanups with the NGO Surfrider Foundation Europe (Biotherm’s NGO partner for their Ocean Initiatives citizen cleanup program since 2020). In 2020, still with Surfrider and supported by a pool of corporate sponsors, Paul launched the “Echappée Bleue” (Blue Escape) operation to introduce sailing to children who have never had the opportunity and some of whom have never even seen the sea.
“I am incredibly excited for this partnership with Biotherm. We both want to win, but we also want to have a bigger societal impact. We want to make people more aware of the issues facing our ocean today. Biotherm’s philosophy of blue beauty and their Water Lovers program really resonated with me – a brand born from water working to preserve our oceans. Having a partner that shares your values is critical when taking on a project as ambitious as this one. The more aligned we are, the more synergy we have,” says Paul Meilhat.
Follow Biotherm on Instagram or dive into the Metaverse via the video game Virtual Regatta Offshore as we inspire a new generation of Water Lovers across the globe! #BiothermRacing #BeAWaterLover
*International Monohull Open Class Association.