Six teams will leave New York this week for the first running of The Ocean Race Atlantic, a 3000 nautical mile dash to Lorient, France that pits brand-new boats against a fleet of proven offshore talent.
The fleet departs Brooklyn Bridge Marina from 1100 local time on Tuesday 1 September, ahead of a ceremonial start in New York Harbour at 1200 EDT. Racing proper begins the next morning.
Wednesday's start is set for 0600 local time from a virtual line 145 miles offshore. Organisers pushed the line out to reduce the chance of the fleet running into whales and other marine megafauna common in the coastal waters near New York.
Each boat carries two men, two women and an onboard reporter. It's a tight format, and the skippers who fronted the media on Monday made no secret of their nerves, and their excitement, about what lies ahead.
Kojiro Shiraishi, sailing his first Ocean Race event after years in IMOCA, is doing it in a brand new boat for DMG MORI. "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," he said. "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."
Boris Herrmann is in the same position, with Team Malizia also racing a new design 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," he said. "So that should be super exciting to see."
Paul Meilhat of United by the Ocean, winner of last summer's The Ocean Race Europe, is watching those same new boats with interest. "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!!" he said.
Francesca Clapcich of 11th Hour Racing is planning on just one gear. "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."
Conrad Colman of MSIG Europe is running the oldest, non-foiling boat in the fleet, with the least experienced crew. That weighs on him. "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," he said. He is hoping to build something for the future, with an eye on the next round-the-world race in January.
Oliver Heer of Embrace the Challenge summed up the mood simply. "We've had a great time here in the US and New York. I love it. But it's time to go sailing and with a rather sporty forecast we can't wait to get out there!"
That forecast looks lively. Northeasterlies of 12 to 15 knots are expected to fill in early Wednesday, and there's genuine talk the fleet could threaten the 24-hour distance record of 641 nautical miles in the opening days.
The departure show streams live on theoceanrace.com and via select international broadcasters on Tuesday, with a shorter YouTube broadcast covering Wednesday's start.
