New York Vendée: All information about the last qualifying regatta for the Vendée Globe

The actual start of the New York Vendée will not take place until tomorrow evening at 8pm Central European Summer Time. But for the participants, some of whose boats are moored in Newport and some in New York, it's time to cast off and warm up today.

In the early afternoon, the skippers set off for the crossing. In the outward race, the Transat CIC, it was the finish line, which was 100 nautical miles off the US east coast. Now it is the start line, which consists of two coordinates. A virtual start that serves the purpose of safety.

Although far away from the US metropolis that gives the race the first part of its name, the kick-off broadcast live on the Internet with commentary - via Youtube. In addition to the organisers' GPS tracker, the feed contains high-resolution on-board videos of some of the participants, including Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia, who sent their images via Starlink stream. After the start, the Live tracking again via yacht.de can be called up. The article also explains the most important functions of the live tracker and how to interpret it correctly.

Light wind zone lies over the start of the New York Vendée

The prelude promises to be very different from at the Transat CIC a month ago. A pronounced light wind zone, which marks the edge of a low with a centre over Canada and Newfoundland, lies over the starting area and will also determine the weather for the first few days. In any case, these are not record conditions, even if Jérémie Beyou's reference time of 9 days and 16 hours from 2016, the first and so far only race of its kind, seems absolutely beatable. After all, the past eight years have seen such great progress in foil design, autopilots and sail development that it would be surprising if the record were not broken.

• Study: The incredible performance development of Imocas - when do they really fly?

The top favourites undoubtedly include the Transat CIC winner Yoann Richomme ("Paprec Arkéa"), Charlie Dalin ("Macif"), record holder Beyou ("Charal") and Thomas Ruyant ("Vulnerable", until recently still riding under the name "For People"). The latter of these fantastic four in particular is regarded as a hot contender for victory. He will be fresh and rested at the start because he took a break during the return regatta, and with his Finot-Conq/Koch design he has a sister ship to Yoann Richomme, which is said to have very good all-round characteristics.

Boris Herrmann is one of the favourites

Boris Herrmann is part of the extended circle of favourites with his newly winged "Malizia - Seaexplorer". His VPLP design proved in The Ocean Race that it also works in light winds; in rougher seas it is considered to be superior on the beam. It only has slight deficits in the transition between displacement and foil mode, which may become relevant in view of the forecasts.

• Transat CIC: Strong first start to the Vendée Globe year - Boris Herrmann finishes in second place

Apart from the man from Hamburg, who will be celebrating his 43rd birthday alone at sea today, Sam Goodchild, Sam Davies, Nico Lunven, Seb Simon, Justine Mettraux, Damien Seguin, Yanick Bestaven and Maxime Sorel have a real chance of making the podium. More information about their chances can be found in our shape guide on the occasion of the Transat CIC. Paul Meilhat is unfortunately not at the start after a serious foil damage on the outward race.