The Ocean Race Atlantic 2026 finally got under way today, some 150 nautical miles off New York, after a speed-restricted overnight transit past a marine mammal protection area held the fleet up longer than expected.
The six IMOCA crews had left New York Harbour after a ceremonial start and parade of sail the previous morning. Light winds overnight slowed their progress toward the virtual line, pushing the actual start back to 1000 EDT, 1400 UTC, 1600 CEST.
By the time the gun went, conditions had turned lively. Cloudy skies, a bumpy 0.8-metre sea and a firm 17-18 knots of north-easterly wind sent the 60-footers charging south-eastward at between 15 and 18 knots of boat speed. Team Malizia led the fleet across the line, with everyone else close behind, the whole fleet starting within 30 seconds of the gun.
There's a Kiwi in the fight. MSIG Europe, skippered by New Zealand's Conrad Colman, lines up against five other crews on the 3,000-nautical-mile passage to Lorient, France, the spiritual home of high-performance ocean racing. The rest of the fleet is a genuinely international field: United by the Ocean (FRA), led by Paul Meilhat and Mariana Lobato, Team Malizia (GER), skippered by Boris Herrmann, Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing (USA), skippered by Francesca Clapcich, Embrace the Challenge (SUI), skippered by Oliver Heer, and DMG MORI Sailing Team (JPN), skippered by Kojiro Shiraishi.
Each boat carries two men and two women, plus an onboard reporter.
"The next few hours (after the start) will be very important while the fleet is still close together," said Sara Stone from on board United by the Ocean. "The small gains now could make a big difference over the next days."
As the crews settle into their watch patterns, attention is turning to an east-moving low pressure system building to the north of the fleet, one that could carry the boats at high speed for much of the crossing.
"We have just been trying to go fast since the start," said Francesca Clapcich from on board 11th Hour Racing. "Malizia seems to be setting a different pace from anyone else, and maybe that's the performance of the new boat. We are going to keep pushing, try to stay close, not lose contact and just go as fast as we can."
Boris Herrmann's new boat already has a result to show for it. The first Super Sprint, a 20-minute race-within-a-race that measures each boat's distance covered in any direction, was won on Wednesday by Team Malizia, with Herrmann hand-steering his new boat to victory. DMG Mori and Embrace the Challenge rounded out the top three in that separate ranking.
This edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic is the most accessible yet, with Daily OnBoard Live Shows running at 1700 CEST each race day via YouTube and international broadcasters. For New Zealand fans, that means a rare chance to follow Conrad Colman's tilt at the Atlantic in something close to real time.
