Adventure and uncertainty await competitors readying for epic battle across the North Atlantic
by Stuart Streuli 18 Jun 23:11 BST
19 June 2025
Transatlantic Race 2025 © Stuart Streuli / New York Yacht Club
Enjoying a spectacular evening cocktail reception overlooking Newport Harbor, one competitor in the upcoming Transatlantic Race 2025, which starts tomorrow off Castle Hill Lighthouse just after 1 pm, summed up his simmering anxiety this way: "I'm not yet comfortable with being uncomfortable."
Distance racing is inherently an uncomfortable sport. It can be, in turns, thrilling, boring, maddening and elating. But, it's consistently uncomfortable. Crossing the North Atlantic—known for its inclement weather, cold water and perpetually damp conditions—takes that to an extreme beyond what most sailors know. Of course, therein lies the allure. The distance, the weather and the history all play a part in making this race—which was first sailed in 1866 but hasn't occurred since 2019—a bucket-list challenge for many sailors.
"This will be my first Transatlantic Race, and I think the length of the race is what stuck out to me the most," says Morgan Murphy (at left with brother Liam), who will be sailing on the 82-foot Ikigai, alongside her dad and brother. "It's my dad's fifth Transatlantic race. Growing up and watching him prepare for the races and cheering him all the way, it's just such an endeavor. Now to be a part of it, it's something I'm very excited for."
The Transatlantic Race 2025 is organized by the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club, with support from the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Storm Trysail Club. The race will start from Newport, R.I., on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, and finish off Cowes, England, one to three weeks later. The competitors will cover a distance of approximately 3,000 miles. IRC handicap scoring will determine the winners in each division. The 2025 edition will be the 32nd Transatlantic sailing competition organized by the New York Yacht Club. The race is sponsored by Peters & May and Helly Hansen.
Click here for the current entry list.
Veteran navigator Campbell Field, who will be sailing onboard line-honors favorite Tschüss 2, has done countless miles racing across the North Atlantic and just about every other major ocean. But like Morgan Murphy, he holds a soft spot for this particular track.
"I'm really looking forward to it," he says. "These west-to-east transatlantic races don't come around often. The last one was six years ago. It's a rare opportunity to tackle a complex course like this—and for me, sailing back home to the south of England is special. Charging through the Needles after a race like this? That's satisfying sailing."
In general teams, Campbell knows well what to expect from a two-week ocean race. But the specifics for this particular race are hard to nail down.
"The weather crystal ball is a bit cloudy right now," says Field (standing, third from left, with the crew of Tschüss 2). "The models aren't lining up, and that's largely down to the jet stream falling apart—it's not behaving the way we'd like, and that's a key driver for the surface-level winds and systems we rely on. Beyond Thursday or Friday, things get really uncertain. We're having to prepare ourselves mentally for anything: from light airs to pressure spikes, it could swing either way.
"At the moment, we're expecting to leave in a moderate southwesterly, which should take us out nicely, maybe up to the ice gate area. After that, it's anyone's guess. The strategic decisions we make early on could be huge. If pressure builds in the Atlantic, getting there first might be a real ladder up. But it's hard to say whether we're looking at classic patterns or a completely new challenge."
For many sailors in the race this will be a completely new challenge regardless of the weather. The average age of the crew onboard the German entry Hapsa Hamburg is 26 years old. Some were on the boat for the RORC Transatlantic Race in January, which runs westward along a southerly route. For others, though, this will be their first taste of a true long-distance race.
"One big aim of our club is to teach young people how to sail, so it's always a big thing that the younger people learn a lot," says Katrina Westphal, skipper for Hapsa Hamburg (far left with her crew). "I'm learning always a lot on races. And the other thing is, I also like to race, so we are a bit ambitious, but we are not professionals."
The first two boats, Tschüss 2 and the Volvo 65 Sisi, will cross the starting line at 1:10 pm with the remaining nine boats launching toward England 10 minutes later. The starting line will be set off the Castle Hill Lighthouse at the entrance to the East Passage of Narragansett Bay.