Paul Meilhat and his crew on United by the Ocean claim thrilling victory in The Ocean Race Atlantic
by Ed Gorman 11 Sep 02:23 PDT
10 September 2026
The Ocean Race Atlantic 2026 Day 9 © Jean-Louis Carli / The Ocean Race Atlantic
The inaugural The Ocean Race Atlantic from New York to Lorient just got better and more exciting with every successive mile before reaching its climax with a remarkable victory for Paul Meilhat and his crew on United by the Ocean.
It is often said that people become “glued” to the Tracker during IMOCA races, and the finish of this 3,200-nautical mile sprint across the north Atlantic was no exception in that respect, with a final approach to Lorient that was impossible to take your eyes off.
It was the brand new DMG Mori Global One that was ahead as the leading boats approached the French coast. But, as she sailed into lighter breeze, it was Meilhat and his crew - up against Francesca Clapcich and her team on 11th Hour Racing - who were left to fight nip and tuck all the way to the line.
The breeze was starting to falter as the lead changed hands and Will Harris, the navigator on board 11th Hour Racing, made it even more interesting by going south of the Glénan Islands, while United by the Ocean and every one else went to the north.
In the end Meilhat, who won Ocean Race Europe last year in this boat, and was sailing again with Benjamin Ferré from that campaign - and also with Mariana Lobato, who was with him in his 2023 Ocean Race campaign and Sara Stone - crossed the line nine minutes ahead of Clapcich’s crew.
DMG Mori Global One just held off Team Malizia, skippered by Boris Herrmann, who was gaining all the way to the finish line, to take third place, 13 minutes behind 11th Hour Racing and five minutes ahead of Herrmann’s crew.
As the first four completed the race, the two backmarkers, who benefitted from a weather pattern that enabled them to sail a more direct course to the finish than the boats ahead of them, had some way to go. Oliver Heer’s Embrace the Challenge, which suffered serious mainsail damage early in the race, reached the finish in fifth place in the early hours of this morning. Behind Heer, Conrad Colman’s all-New Zealand crew on MSIG Europe, the only non-foiler in the race, had another 280 miles to go.
Meilhat has compiled a formidable record in IMOCA racing. One of the skippers who has turned up for almost every race on offer in recent years, he was fifth in the last Vendée Globe and, as his performance has shown in this race and The Ocean Race Europe before it, he thrives when leading a full crew.
The 44-year-old Frenchman sounded both delighted and relieved at the finish after such a tight contest with Clapcich. “Ah yeah, it was amazing, and to finish a race like this with a battle,” he said. “The last 24 hours were really interesting and it was not easy to manage, with 11th Hour Racing taking another option at the end at Les Glénan. But this crew is amazing - we sailed the boat the last two days (full-on) and it was really exhausting.”
Meilhat reflected on a race which saw punishing north Atlantic storm conditions and a violent sea state during a stressful 30-hour period in the Gulf Stream. “I think (it was tough) for everyone two days after the start when we had heavy reaching and the boat was bumping in the waves…but it is better to have this moment in the middle, or the beginning of the race, and to finish with champagne sailing and foiling on flat water - this race was amazing,” he said.
Clapcich, meanwhile, was disappointed not to have taken her first win in the Class after finishing second in 11th Hour Racing alongside Harris in the Transat Café L’OR last year. “I mean in the end you always want a bit more - we were so close to winning the race,” she said. “Of course, we were trying really hard to do that, but if you were asking me a few hours ago to get this result in the bank, I would say no way, you know.”
Her crew did well to fight back after having led for a long period in the second half of the race, but then suffered foil bearing damage which hampered them in the final stages. “We had some issues, but we came back stronger than before,” said Clapcich, “I mean, it’s crazy - 3,000 miles and at the end, we are what? - a few minutes away from each other.”
Clapcich was pleased that the race has clearly made an impact with fans. “It was great to do this race and for people to follow us and great for the teams,” she said, before praising her own outfit. “We just have an incredible team and they did an amazing job to get us here and they are all here and celebrating with everyone together - it’s super-special,” she said.
On DMG Mori Global One there was also disappointment that the crew - Sam Davies and Nico Lunven, alongside skipper Kojiro Shiraishi and Japanese sailor Arisa Moriya - was not able to complete the win. But this new boat is still bedding in and while she started the race off New York somewhat off the pace, the performance gradually improved as the race went on over eight days, even though this team had to contend with a charging issue at one stage.
Shiraishi, who commissioned the boat from Guillaume Verdier and gave him a wide open brief that has resulted in a hull sporting the first bustle in the IMOCA Class, said he was pleased with his new boat. “Very happy,” he said, “yeah, good team, good boat - very, very happy and a lot of fun. It was a wonderful race and we are all safe and the boat has no big damage, so that is a great result. We were hoping to win the race, but still third place is a great result in this first race.”
At the helm of the other brand new boat in the six-strong fleet, Herrmann was frustrated that damage to a foil casing had prevented them from driving home their early advantage when this new design from the board of Antoine Koch showed sparkling speed, both upwind and reaching.
Herrmann is in no doubt that he has got a potent weapon on his hands for the next Vendée Globe. “The boat is exceptional,” he said. “Upwind, we were super-fast, sailing away from the fleet at the start and leading until we (had a collision). That took us two hours to fiddle around to work, and then we were a bit behind and we never really managed to catch up again.”
The German skipper was pleased with how his team - Cole Brauer, Justine Mettraux and Julien Villion - had performed. “I am proud of the team for keeping pushing with a big handicap which could have demotivated us to sail and just drag on,” he said. “We couldn’t adjust the rake any more…which you need to push the boat up on foiling. We didn’t have that anymore - that means we did the best out of it and learnt to sail the boat in a different way.”
This race saw all the crews taking their chances ahead of a big Atlantic depression with tough associated sea conditions which caused violent slamming on board the foilers. And then, in the closing stages, they had to deal with a ridge, around which they had to sail to get to the finish. Herrmann said racing in front of the depression as they closed on the ridge was challenging for all the crews.
“It was very unstable with this kind of front pushing us into lighter winds and with a big swell from to leeward,” he said. “It was in between different sails and set-ups, and with really challenging choices for everyone. We saw others struggled too - where should they position themselves, which sail to put up, whether to sail lower and faster or higher…it was really not easy for everyone,” he added.