Top sailors ready to take on Atlantic challenge
by The Ocean Race Atlantic 31 Aug 12:31 PDT
1 September 2026
The Ocean Race Atlantic © Vincent Curutchet / The Ocean Race Atlantic
The Ocean Race Atlantic fleet will depart New York City on Tuesday afternoon with the top offshore sailors in the world lining up for the new challenge.
The inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic will see six teams of two men and two women, plus an onboard reporter, racing from New York to Lorient, France.
The fleet will depart the Brooklyn Bridge Marina starting at 1100 local time on Tuesday, 1st September ahead of a ceremonial start in New York Harbor at 1200 EDT / 1600 UTC / 1800 CEST. The departure show will be broadcast live on theoceanrace.com and select international broadcasters. Learn more here.
New start time
The 3000 nautical mile race to Lorient will start at 0600 local time (1000 UTC / 1200 CEST) on Wednesday 2nd September from a virtual start line 145 miles offshore, in order to reduce the risk of encounters with marine mammals and megafauna that frequent the coastal areas.
The forecast for the first hours of racing on Wednesday morning is encouraging, with 12-15 knot northeasterlies expected to fill in following lighter wind conditions on the route from New York Harbor to the offshore start area. There will be a short YouTube show for the race start on The Ocean Race website and YouTube Channel on Wednesday 2nd September.
New boats, fast racing
On Monday, the six skippers spoke to the international media ahead of Tuesday's departure from New York, and all said they were looking forward to getting on the race course.
"Since we started this project two years ago we have put so much energy into it, and now it's time to see how the boat is sailing and what we can achieve," said Kojiro Shiraishi, a long-time IMOCA skipper taking on his first event in The Ocean Race, and competing in a brand new boat for DMG MORI. "There are many things we don't know yet about the new boat. So this race is a very big challenge for us to test her and test ourselves. We will do our best to race well and learn what we can and grow as a team."
"It is very exciting for us to be racing a new boat that we are working up," said Boris Herrmann, the skipper of Team Malizia, who will also be racing a new boat for the first time. "It will be a great question mark, and we don't know how we will perform against these competitors and especially DMG with their new boat. So that should be super exciting to see."
"I'm excited to be against these sailors and teams and particularly the two new boats because we don't know if they are fast, or really fast, or really, really fast!!" said Paul Meilhat of United by the Ocean, and the winner skipper and boat from last summer's The Ocean Race Europe. "I think it will be a big challenge and a fun race with all these fast boats."
"From when we start until we finish we want to push the boat," said Francesca Clapcich, the skipper of 11th Hour Racing. "When the conditions are good it's awesome to be able to push the boat really hard and be able to do it with a crew that is really well prepared... It's incredible actually. We're pretty happy because it seems that our boat has a lot of reliability. So we feel that we can definitely push it all the time. I don't have so many gears - I'm happy to just go, you know, one gear. Full ahead! And in the end we will see at the finish line."
"We have a very different boat (older, non-foiling) and the least experienced team. And that puts a lot more responsibility on me because I have a lot fewer opportunities to sort of check in with an experienced sailor and ask for a second opinion," noted Conrad Colman, the skipper of MSIG Europe. "That comes with its own responsibilities, but also comes with its own opportunities and joy frankly, because it's really exciting to come and have new sailors on board and to see the sparkle in their eye when they see the boat surf down the wave for the first time and feel the acceleration... It's incredibly special. And, my hope is that we are building something for the future to participate in the race around the world in January. So I'm excited by the passion that my team has, and we're looking forward to sharing that with everybody as we go."
"We've had a great time here in the US and New York. I love it," confirmed Oliver Heer, the skipper of Embrace the Challenge. "But it's time to go sailing and with a rather sporty forecast we can't wait to get out there!"
The forecast is for a quick opening to the transatlantic passage and the 24-hour record (641 nautical miles) might be within reach during the first days of the race.
Thank you New York
The Ocean Race Atlantic has been set up at Brooklyn Bridge Marina since Wednesday evening and with the support of Impact Partner 11th Hour Racing, the sailors and event have engaged the community with numerous sailing and ocean health activities including an 'At the Helm' event focussed on Sport and Leadership with top leaders from sport and industry.
There has been Try Sailing with Brooklyn Bridge Sail, as well as a collaboration with the Women's Sports Foundation on an event for young women focused on marine weather, ocean science and sailing, as well as pop-up displays and activities from the American Littoral Society and Gotham Whale and model boat racing with Rocking the Boat at Sail Central Park.
How to follow and engage with The Ocean Race Atlantic
The Ocean Race Atlantic will have unprecedented access for fans. The official race tracker, with Predict Wind, will feature live boat data as well as live video streams from the boats.
The departure show from New York is scheduled to start at 1200 EDT / 1600 UTC / 1800 CEST on Tuesday 1st September and will be streaming on theoceanrace.com, YouTube, and via international broadcasters, including DAZN, which will feature all of the programming from The Ocean Race Atlantic on its international platforms.
Once racing starts, the 30-minute OnBoard Live daily show will feature live connections to the fleet every day at 1100 EDT / 1500 UTC / 1700 CEST. This daily programme begins on 2nd September and will also be streaming on theoceanrace.com, YouTube, and via international broadcasters, including DAZN.
The Official Game, with Virtual Regatta, is available here and gives an opportunity for armchair sailors to test their tactical wits against the best in the world. Tom Gauthier, Deputy General Manager, Virtual Regatta describes the challenge: "Every one of us has watched a leg of The Ocean Race in the past and thought we would have gone the other way. Now, you can prove it! The same course as the fleet, the same weather files, the same tactical calls to make, but from a phone and for free. We leave New York with the race fleet. After that it is up to you. The Atlantic ocean, your own weather routing and one question - north or south? - as you try to beat the IMOCA fleet to Lorient."