Megan Thomson, named 2025 New Zealand Sailor of the Year and the first female helm to reach the podium at the Open Match Racing World Championship, is about to make her IMOCA debut. She is one of three emerging Kiwi talents joining Conrad Colman aboard MSIG Europe for the inaugural Ocean Race Atlantic, starting in New York on 1 September.
The new crewed IMOCA transatlantic, organised by The Ocean Race, brings six boats together for a race from New York to Lorient, with arrivals expected between 8 and 10 September. Each team in this first edition must include two women and two men, a requirement that is new to the IMOCA class.
Colman, a two-time Vendée Globe competitor and the first skipper to complete that race without fossil fuels in 2016, has built his crew entirely from New Zealand's emerging offshore talent. Alongside Thomson are Anna Merchant, who brings experience across match racing, foiling, and offshore campaigns, and Aaron Hume-Merry, a national champion and World Championship representative with more than a decade across Olympic classes, foiling craft, and offshore racing.
Merchant and Hume-Merry came onto Colman's radar during a visit to New Zealand last February, where he met them through the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, a partner of his Aotearoa Ocean Racing project.
Colman is open about the competitive challenge. MSIG Europe is a daggerboard IMOCA in a fleet made up entirely of the latest-generation foiling boats. "I know it'll be tough racing against a fleet made up entirely of the latest generation foiling boats, but we'll give everything we have while keeping that competitive spirit we share on board," he said. "It's a fantastic learning opportunity and an important step in building the future of our project."
The race is as much about developing New Zealand offshore capability as it is about results. "I'm really excited to sail with these motivated Kiwis and pass on some of my offshore experience," Colman said. Thomson shares that sense of purpose: "I am thrilled to join Aotearoa Ocean Racing and MSIG Europe to participate in a project with such a bold vision for New Zealand sailing. The opportunity to step into offshore racing, learn alongside an experienced team, and help pave the way toward The Ocean Race motivated me enormously."
Early training sessions have confirmed a strong crew dynamic, with the younger sailors highly engaged in boat preparation.
Completing the MSIG Europe team is Georgia Schofield as On Board Reporter. A photographer and videographer who has been working with Colman since 2023, Schofield will document the campaign using the onboard media setup provided by the organisation.
