Ocean Race Atlantic: The transatlantic race as a warm-up for the round-the-world voyage

Paul Meilhat competed in his first Ocean Race round-the-world in 2023. He achieved this with “Biotherm”, on a tight budget, despite a number of severe setbacks, and finished fourth in the final standings. Last year, the Frenchman – once again on a tight budget – took on the challenge of the Ocean Race Europe. With a strong crew and the ex-“Biotherm”, a boat that performs well in light winds and has excellent acceleration, Paul Meilhat, Amélie Grassi and their crewmates won the European race.

Now Meilhat is set to give it another go in the Ocean Race Atlantic. However, the favourites are Boris Herrmann’s new “Malizia 4” and Kojiro Shiraishi’s new “DMG Mori Global One”, whose top-of-the-table clash is eagerly anticipated. To the YACHT Favourites Check Click here for the Transat.

Ocean Race Atlantic: Meilhat – first a challenger, then a winner, now a challenger once more

Lurking behind the two frontrunners from Germany and Japan are the 2022 IMOCA boats “United by the Ocean” and “11th Hour Racing” (Francesca Clapcich) – on paper, the next two youngest boats in the fleet. Oliver Heer’s “Embrace the Challenge” could join this group of contenders; although the Swiss IMOCA for the Ocean Race Atlantic, built in 2018, is a further four years older, it put in a formidable performance in the last Vendée Globe as “TeamWork – Team Snef”, with Justine Mettraux at the helm, it delivered a formidable performance in the last Vendée Globe and has since undergone a refit by the Swiss team. Conrad Colman’s team will be the outsiders as they set sail in the Transat aboard the 2007-built “MSIG Europe”.

Of course, on paper, in sailing, these figures can only ever serve as an indication of potential performance. The uncertainties of a race and the risk of damage play just as big a part in the battle for victory and top placings as the quality of the crews. In this respect too, the two favourite teams in particular have gone all out rather than cutting corners. For the Ocean Race Atlantic, Boris Herrmann has assembled a top-class crew comprising Cole Brauer – who has herself sailed solo round the world – Justine Mettraux, who finished eighth in the Vendée Globe, and the highly experienced Julien Villion.

"It’s very rewarding to be surrounded by people like that and to sail with them." Boris Herrmann

Team United by the Ocean takes on the top crews

“I have every confidence in this crew. They are among the best sailors in the world,” Herrmann emphasised this before the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic. Furthermore, in its tenth anniversary year, the Ocean Race Atlantic marks the start of a new four-year cycle for Team Malizia. “We hope that our boat performs well and is fast,” said Herrmann, also with a view to taking part in the round-the-world race in The Ocean Race, which Herrmann and his team are determined to win. What does he love most about The Ocean Race?

“The Ocean Race existed before I was even born. It was this race that first drew my attention to offshore sailing. And now I can do it myself.” Boris Herrmann

Kojiro Shiraishi also has his sights set on The Ocean Race with the DMG Mori Sailing Team. For the upcoming Transat, he has IMOCA heavyweights on board in the form of four-time Vendée Globe competitor Samantha Davies and Nico Lunven, who finished sixth in the Vendée Globe. They are joined by the Japanese sailor Arisa Moriya, a talented offshore sailor who moved to Australia with plans for a professional career and sailed more than 4,000 nautical miles as a navigator and crew member aboard the 100-foot record-chasing yacht “Comanche”, as a navigator and crew member.

Paul Meilhat, who finished fifth in the Vendée Globe, is set to compete in the Atlantic leg of The Ocean Race alongside co-skipper Mariana Lobato and Benjamin Ferré, the top Vendée Globe solo sailor without foils in the last edition. They will be joined by the American all-rounder Sara Stone.

​Not mainstream in the French IMOCA scene: Meilhat values solo and team races

For Meilhat’s Team United by the Ocean, The Ocean Race Atlantic offers the chance to once again vigorously promote his ambition to compete in The Ocean Race round-the-world race, starting next January. Meilhat is one of those French sailors who rate round-the-world team sailing just as highly as the classic French solo and shorthanded races.

Speaking ahead of the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic on 1 September, Meilhat said: “I’ve been discovering round-the-world team sailing with the Ocean Race for three years now. First in the Ocean Race around the world, then in the Ocean Race Europe. Now it’s a new chapter.” He immediately follows this observation with the overarching mission.

"The aim is to be on the starting line for The Ocean Race in Alicante next year. The Ocean Race Atlantic is a big step for us towards that goal – a major challenge." Paul Meilhat

Meilhat’s team, United by the Ocean, is still working on the budget for the round-the-world yacht race. He knows that, to take part and succeed, they need “people who work well together on the boat”. It is also important to “share responsibility with the team members”. Meilhat’s motto is: “If you share tasks under pressure, you can be more efficient.”

Following the Ocean Race Atlantic comes The Ocean Race

Meilhat also values The Ocean Race, the best-known team race round the world, for other reasons. The seasoned competitor says: “I love getting to know people from other countries in The Ocean Race. I think it’s really good to find out how other people sail and, in doing so, broaden your own horizons. That’s why I sail The Ocean Race.”

Much like Meilhat, New Zealander Conrad Colman also comments on the challenge posed by The Ocean Race, which first set sail in 1973/1974 under the name the Whitbread Round the World Race. Colman is setting sail in the new Ocean Race Atlantic with an all-Kiwi crew, bringing some young talent on board too. He isn’t letting the fact that his boat, ‘MSIG Europe’, is tackling the 3,200-nautical-mile transatlantic race without foils slow him down. Colman says: “For me, The Ocean Race is everything!”

In a clip from The Ocean Race Atlantic “The Crazy Kiwi” Colman explained: “My offshore sailing adventure began with The Ocean Race. First as a spectator. Then it opened my eyes to the possibility of competing in The Ocean Race myself. I wanted to come back and end my career where it all began.”

From a solo marathon back to a team challenge in the Ocean Race Atlantic

Colman had made a name for himself as a solo sailor in his first Vendée Globe, which he became the first New Zealander to complete in 2017. He had already covered 97 per cent of the course when his mast broke. The 42-year-old was the third competitor in the history of the Vendée Globe to battle his way to the finish under a jury rig and, after 110 days at sea, was given a rapturous welcome despite finishing in sixteenth place.

Colman is now back in action with the team. And once again, he’ll be taking the fans on a journey filled not only with sport, but also with plenty of entertainment – just like in this clip. When the Ocean Race Atlantic gets underway, it will mark the start of the round-the-world race next year – and not just for Colman.

After ten years with Team Malizia, Boris Herrmann is looking forward to the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic, which marks the beginning of a new four-year chapter for the team: