Ocean Race Atlantic: “The race isn’t over until we’ve crossed the finish line”

The top four are currently competing in the Ocean Race Atlantic the final sprint to the finish line. On the morning of the final day, the “DMG Mori Global One” is still leading the fleet. At around 8.30 am, skipper Kojiro Shiraishi, Samantha Davies, Nico Lunven and Airisa Moriya still had just under 60 nautical miles to go to the finish line. Paul Meilhat’s “United by the Ocean” had made another strong push overnight. Most recently, the French 2022 IMOCA was just one nautical mile behind the new Japanese Verdier rocket. The tension is palpable.

Click here to go straight to the live tracker for the Ocean Race Atlantic.

By around 9 am, the top four – from “DMG Mori Global One” to “Malizia 4” – were separated by just 15 nautical miles. As the leading quartet are set to encounter lighter winds on their way to the finish, the outcome could well be decided in the final metres. Boris Herrmann’s Malizia team had announced the previous day that they would fight right to the very last metre. During their comeback, Boris Herrmann said: “The race isn’t over until we’ve crossed the finish line.”

Ocean Race Atlantic: Challengers close in on “DMG Mori Global One”

Early on Thursday morning, “Malizia 4” still had around eleven nautical miles to make up on “11th Hour Racing”, who were in third place. Boris Herrmann, Justine Mettraux, Cole Brauer and Julien Villion were fighting hard, but it will be difficult for them to break through to the very front again. Boris Herrmann had said on Wednesday afternoon: “Tuesday was a dream day, when we almost made it back to the front as we caught up. But now it’s going to be tough; the conditions aren’t easy.”

“The crew are incredibly dedicated, they never give up and they stay focused.” Boris Herrmann

The tracker shows it relentlessly: the projected finish times continued to suggest that “DMG Mori Global One” would be the first boat to cross the line early on Thursday morning. The expected arrival time for the Japanese IMOCA was most recently in the middle of the afternoon. Just two minutes later, according to the projections, “Untied by the Ocean” was expected to cross the finish line at 9 am. A dramatic finish is in sight.

Shortly before 9 am on Thursday morning, Francesca Clapcich’s “11th Hour Racing” (formerly “Malizia 3”) had also reduced the gap to “DMG Mori Global One” to under five nautical miles. In the more changeable conditions, speeds fluctuated just as frequently as the gaps between the boats, swinging back and forth. For the crews, every move and every manoeuvre must now be spot on over the final few miles.

Who will make it onto the podium in the first Ocean Race Atlantic?

“DMG Mori Global One” could – closely pursued by its rivals – pass Penmarch around midday, before the crew sets course for Lorient. With 24 hours to go until the finish, “11th Hour Racing” navigator Will Harris had said: “It’s still anyone’s game.” The race is now set to become even more thrilling in the Bay of Biscay as the winds ease. The question remains: who can still challenge “DMG Mori Global One” for victory? And who will make it onto the podium? The final, nail-biting hours of the race will provide the answer.

Team Malizia had already secured this special classification on Wednesday following their latest victory – their fourth in a total of eight Supersprints. This is more than just an indication of the speed potential of the new Koch rocket. However, last weekend’s collision and the damage to the foil system have taken a heavy toll on the overall standings in the Ocean Race Atlantic.

Boris Herrmann did not want to speculate to YACHT about the extent to which this would affect the race result, but said: “It is still a major disadvantage that, as a result, the collision “We can’t adjust our foil rake. You never know what might have happened. It’s always silly to speculate about things like that, but it’s definitely holding us back a lot in this race. It is a bit disappointing.”

Ocean Race Atlantic: Watch the final live on YouTube

The organisers of the Ocean Race Atlantic are planning live broadcasts of the first boats crossing the finish line this afternoon. Given how the race is unfolding, an exact start time for the broadcast had not yet been confirmed. It was expected that it might begin shortly before 2 pm. Click here for the live broadcast.