Far beyond the towers of Manhattan and the familiar outline of the Statue of Liberty, six IMOCA yachts gathered upon an invisible line drawn across a grey North Atlantic morning, waiting for the signal that would begin a new chapter in more than half a century of ocean racing.
The inaugural Ocean Race Atlantic started approximately 150 nautical miles offshore from New York after a slow, speed-restricted passage through waters protected for marine mammals. Light overnight winds delayed the fleets arrival, pushing the start back to 10:00 EDT, 14:00 UTC and 16:00 CEST.
Conditions had strengthened considerably by the time racing began. A north-easterly wind of 17 to 18 knots rolled across a confused 0.8-metre sea, sending the 60-foot yachts south-east at speeds between 15 and 18 knots as their crews began the 3,000-nautical-mile passage towards Lorient.
Boris Herrmanns Team Malizia crossed the virtual line first, although the margins were hardly decisive because all six boats started within 30 seconds. The small gains immediately mattered, with each crew attempting to secure clean wind and a favourable position before the fleet encountered the first major strategic decision.
A Start Designed Around the Wildlife
The unusual offshore starting position followed a ceremonial departure from New York Harbor on 1 September. The yachts paraded before the city before beginning their controlled overnight passage towards the operational race line.
Race organisers selected the offshore location to reduce the likelihood of encounters with whales and other marine megafauna frequenting the coastal waters. The decision meant surrendering the traditional spectacle of six boats accelerating away beneath the city skyline, although it placed marine protection ahead of convenience and television imagery.
The fleet was originally expected to begin racing earlier, but weak overnight wind reduced its progress. Moving the start to 10:00 EDT allowed all six teams to reach the designated area without forcing them to exceed the restrictions applied during the protected transit.
The official Ocean Race Atlantic event page confirms that this is the first standalone point-to-point course in the events history and the first to require each four-person racing crew to contain two women and two men.
Six Teams With Different Ambitions
Team Malizia began the race with Herrmann joined by Justine Mettraux, Cole Brauer and navigator Julien Villion. Their new IMOCA immediately attracted attention because its performance remained largely unknown before the start.
Herrmann has spent much of his career combining serious offshore competition with environmental research and climate communication. He finished fifth in the 2020-21 Vende Globe after a dramatic final approach that included rescuing fellow competitor Kevin Escoffier and colliding with a fishing vessel near the finish.
The German skipper subsequently led Team Malizia around the world during the 2022-23 Ocean Race, winning the longest leg in the events history from Cape Town to Itaja. That Southern Ocean passage also helped demonstrate the enormous potential of fully crewed IMOCA racing.
Frances United by the Ocean is led by Paul Meilhat and Mariana Lobato, with American sailor Sara Stone among a crew carrying considerable offshore and Olympic experience. Meilhat won the 2018 Route du Rhum and led his team to victory in The Ocean Race Europe during the previous summer, giving the French campaign a proven understanding of fully crewed IMOCA competition.
Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing represents the United States under the command of Italian-American skipper Francesca Clapcich. A two-time Olympian, offshore racer and member of the victorious 11th Hour Racing Team in 2022-23, Clapcich carries both sporting experience and a personal connection to the start country.
Oliver Heer leads Switzerlands Embrace The Challenge, while Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi brings DMG MORI Sailing Teams new-generation yacht into its first competitive offshore test. Conrad Colmans MSIG Europe represents New Zealand with an older, non-foiling IMOCA and a crew intended to build experience for future campaigns.
Malizia Shows Her Early Pace
Team Malizia established the first advantage of the race, prompting Clapcich to observe that the German yacht appeared to be sailing at a different pace from the rest of the fleet.
Early speed rarely decides a transatlantic race, particularly while the boats remain close enough to share the same weather. It nevertheless provides the first meaningful comparison between new designs and established yachts after months of computer modelling, construction and private testing.
The latest IMOCA boats use substantial foils to lift much of the hull clear of the water, reducing drag while producing extraordinary reaching speeds. They do not fly completely in the manner of an Americas Cup foiler because the class prohibits rudder elevators, although their speed and violent motion can make life aboard feel very far removed from traditional displacement sailing.
A bumpy head sea presents a difficult early test for a new boat. Foils can create tremendous power, yet repeated impacts place severe loads through the hull, rig and sailors, forcing crews to balance pace against reliability before the race has properly developed.
Clapcichs response was to continue pushing while preserving contact with Malizia. Allowing a faster rival to escape into stronger wind can become extremely expensive because the leading boat reaches each new weather system first, creating an advantage that grows with every mile.
Chasing the Moving Low
The most important tactical question concerns an eastward-moving low-pressure system developing north of the fleet. Teams that connect with its favourable wind could be carried rapidly towards Europe, while those arriving too late may be trapped behind or beneath it.
Navigators must judge how far north to position their boats before turning towards Lorient. Sailing closer to the depression may provide stronger wind and a faster route, although it can also expose the yachts to rougher seas, heavier loads and a greater risk of equipment damage.
A southerly route could offer flatter water and reduced strain, but every mile sailed away from the strongest breeze may become difficult to recover. Weather routing software can model the options using forecast data and each yachts expected performance, although the final decision still depends upon human judgement.
Sara Stone recognised the importance of the opening hours aboard United by the Ocean. Small gains made while the fleet remained compressed could determine which boat reached the developing system first, turning a few hundred metres into many miles once the yachts accelerated.
Fully crewed IMOCA racing adds another tactical dimension because four sailors can complete manoeuvres more quickly than a solo skipper. Sail changes, reefs and gybes can be performed aggressively, although the pace creates a relentless watch system in which genuine rest becomes scarce.
The First Super Sprint
Opening day also introduced the Super Sprint, a separate race within the main transatlantic contest. Each session measures the distance covered by every boat in any direction during the same 20-minute period, rewarding pure speed independently from position on the course.
Herrmann hand-steered Team Malizia to victory in the first sprint, placing the German boat ahead of DMG MORI and Embrace The Challenge. The result reinforced the early impression that Malizias new design possessed serious pace, although 20 minutes provides only a glimpse of performance across a race expected to last approximately one week.
The Super Sprint recalls the speed challenges that have long accompanied major offshore events, yet its inclusion also recognises the modern appetite for shorter contests within a much longer race. The transatlantic result will remain the true prize because outright speed has little value if the boat is travelling in the wrong direction.
From Whitbread Adventure to IMOCA Flight
The Ocean Race began as the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973, when 17 yachts left Portsmouth for a four-leg circumnavigation through Cape Town, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro.
Ramon Carlins Swan 65 Sayula II became the first overall winner, overcoming larger and more experienced campaigns through dependable sailing and handicap performance. The story remains one of ocean racings great adventures because Carlin began without the professional background now considered essential at this level.
The race grew steadily more specialised during subsequent decades. Purpose-built maxis replaced many of the converted cruising yachts, while Peter Blakes Steinlager 2 achieved the remarkable feat of winning every leg during the 1989-90 Whitbread.
The Volvo Ocean Race era began in 2001 and produced increasingly powerful boats, first through the VO60 and VO70 classes before the introduction of the one-design VO65. Those yachts created close racing and controlled development costs, although the event eventually turned towards the foiling IMOCA class that had transformed solo competition.
The 2022-23 Ocean Race marked the first round-the-world edition for the IMOCA fleet. Charlie Enrights 11th Hour Racing Team claimed overall victory, while Team Malizia, Biotherm, GUYOT environnement Team Europe and Team Holcim-PRB established how hard these boats could be raced with complete crews.
Holcim-PRB also set the standing IMOCA 24-hour record during that race, covering 640.91 nautical miles in May 2023. A suitable weather system during the Atlantic sprint could place that distance under threat, particularly if the newest boats can maintain their speed through the open ocean.
Equality Written Into the Rules
Every racing crew in The Ocean Race Atlantic consists of two women and two men, with a non-sailing On Board Reporter completing the five-person complement.
Offshore sailing has featured outstanding female sailors for generations, although access to professional positions has not always reflected the available talent. Tracy Edwards and the all-female crew of Maiden challenged entrenched assumptions during the 1989-90 Whitbread, finishing second in class after winning two legs.
Sailors including Dawn Riley, Ellen MacArthur, Dee Caffari, Sam Davies, Annie Lush, Justine Mettraux and Clapcich continued expanding those opportunities. The 50-50 rule moves the discussion beyond aspiration by making equal representation a requirement for every team.
Once offshore, performance remains the only useful measure. The North Atlantic makes no allowances for biography, reputation or gender, while every heavy sail change and tactical decision demands ability, trust and judgement from the entire crew.
Lorient Lies Beyond the Horizon
The six yachts are now racing towards Lorient, the Breton port known throughout professional sailing as the heart of the IMOCA community. Designers, boatbuilders, riggers, sailmakers and campaign bases are concentrated around the region, giving the finish the atmosphere of a homecoming for much of the fleet.
Before that welcome can begin, the crews must cross an ocean capable of changing character within hours. The opening upwind miles will gradually give way to faster reaching conditions if the expected low develops favourably, although weather systems rarely obey the clean predictions displayed before departure.
Team Malizia owns the first start, the first Super Sprint and the first suggestion of superior speed. Those distinctions provide encouragement rather than security because new boats must prove themselves across thousands of miles rather than a handful of impressive hours.
The skyline has disappeared astern, watch systems have begun and the fleet is searching for the weather system that could carry it towards France. The Ocean Race Atlantic has finally left the ceremony behind, placing six crews and a new idea into the hands of the sea.
