Six days to go | The Ocean Race Atlantic ushers in a new era of fully-crewed IMOCA racing
In six days from today, six of the world’s leading offshore sailing teams will depart New York City for the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic, a new transatlantic race with six teams competing including two new generation IMOCA boats that will be racing for the first time, along with an innovative 50-50 crew rule that sees each crew in the fleet composed of two women and two men, racing side by side.
Each of the six teams will also have an OBR (on board reporter) to bring the experience of the sailors and the reality of life at sea closer to fans than ever before, including live updates via the daily OnBoard Live Show and streaming from on board each boat via the official race tracker at www.theoceanrace.com.
The race starts on 1st September (16:00 UTC), with the fleet starting offshore from New York City before racing across the North Atlantic to Lorient, France, the heart of the IMOCA sailing community. The boats are expected to arrive in Lorient around 8-9 September.
The six teams competing are Team Malizia (GER), Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing (USA), United by the Ocean (FRA), DMG MORI Sailing Team (JPN), Embrace The Challenge (SUI) and MSIG Europe (NZL).
This is a race built for speed, strategy and teamwork. The foiling IMOCA boats are capable of extraordinary performance offshore, but on a transatlantic sprint the crews must constantly balance boat speed with the demands of navigation and tactics, weather, crew fatigue and overall reliability. This is doubly true of the DMG MORI and Malizia teams who will be racing new boats for the first time. The North Atlantic can deliver powerful weather systems at this time of year, making it possible for the 24-hour distance record of 641 nautical miles to be in play for the teams who strike the right balance.
RACING FOR THE OCEAN
The Ocean Race Atlantic is connecting elite sailing with a wider mission for ocean health with the sailors and teams also competing across a wide variety of sustainability metrics for the inaugural Racing for the Ocean Teams Challenge. The Ocean Race Atlantic is being delivered with support from Impact Partner 11th Hour Racing, with a shared focus on ocean science and literacy, sustainable event practices, and equity and inclusion.
As they race across the Atlantic, the teams will be collecting valuable ocean and climate data for scientific research and in both New York City and Lorient there is a full programme of Try Sailing, Ocean Health and Literacy initiatives.
The skipper of the US-flagged 11th Hour Racing boat, and a winning sailor in the 2022-23 around the world race, Francesca Clapcich, shares her excitement about the fast race course and the start in New York City: “I think we will see some high speeds and if we are lucky with the weather at the end of the summer, we could see a record-breaking transatlantic,” she said, adding, “It is pretty special to be in New York for the start, as we have a lot of supporters for our team here and it will be great to give them an opportunity to experience our sport.”
Paul Meilhat, the winning skipper of The Ocean Race Europe last summer, and co-skipper of the French team, United by the Ocean says: “This is a classic transatlantic route and a race where we have a chance to bring the story of what we experience on the ocean to life. The finish in Lorient, the ‘Sailing Valley’ that is home to so many of us, makes the arrival even more special.”
NOTES TO MEDIA:
On 31 August at 16:15 CEST The Ocean Race Atlantic will host a Skipper Briefing Call for international media, with all teams, live from New York City. If you are interested in participating, please let us know at press@theoceanrace.com and the team will send you the link.
STORIES TO WATCH
Beyond the race result, there are strong human and technical stories throughout the fleet:
Boris Herrmann is returning to The Ocean Race with the brand-new Malizia 4 and looking to turn one of the fleet’s most anticipated IMOCAs into a race winner. There´s 2 new-generation IMOCAs versus 3 proven boats, and 1 boat that is old but very strong.
Frankie Clapcich returning as a skipper after winning the Round the World Race in 2023
Sisters Justine and Élodie-Jane Mettraux racing on different teams;
Will Harris racing his former Malizia boat with a new team;
Kojiro Shiraishi's new Japanese IMOCA;
Cole Brauer racing from her home state;
The first mandatory 50/50 gender-balanced crews in The Ocean Race.
NEWS CONTENT – WHAT BROADCASTERS WILL RECEIVE
There are three principal VNR opportunities across the event:
1. NEW YORK / RACE START VNR
The fleet in New York, final preparations, Speed Runs, skipper interviews, dock-out, Statue of Liberty/parade imagery and the start of the transatlantic race.
2. MID-RACE NEWS VNR
Driven by the strongest developing story rather than a predetermined date. Potential angles include:
major lead changes or an exceptionally close race;
extreme weather or major tactical decisions;
exceptional boat speeds / potential records;
technical problems, damage or repairs;
strong onboard human stories;
significant ocean science findings or observations;
compelling live interaction between boats;
any major sporting story that develops.
3. ARRIVAL / RESULTS VNR
First arrivals into Lorient, race winner, reaction from the sailors, final results and the story of the race.
DAILY NEWS SERVICE
In addition to the three principal VNRs, daily news material will be available throughout the event, giving broadcasters and newsrooms the ability to follow the race and select the stories most relevant to their audience.
On each event day, the news service will include:
English-language press release detailing the day's events, key developments, quotes from sailors/officials and current standings/results. Additional language versions will be linked where available.
2-3 minutes of broadcast-quality raw footage in Full HD (1920 × 1080), MOV/QuickTime or MP4.
3-4 interviews, including sailors and relevant race/team voices.
3-4 high-resolution photographs, including racing/action imagery and, where applicable, arrivals and prize-giving.
Detailed shot list identifying the footage and interview contributors.
Relevant standings, results and scoring, including Speed Run results where applicable.
Text & Photo Credits: The Ocean Race Atlantic
