The Ocean Race Atlantic - They're off! Embrace The Challenge has left New York
by Oliver Heer Ocean Racing 1 Sep 20:01 BST
1 September 2026
The Ocean Race Atlantic - They're off! Embrace The Challenge has left New York © Oliver Heer Ocean Racing
With the Statue of Liberty watching over New York harbour, Ollie Heer, Liz Wardley, Marie Riou, Lincoln Dews and onboard reporter Paddy Condy stepped onboard Embrace The Challenge and waved goodbye.
The dock-out ceremony began with the traditional sailors' parade, as the crews made their way past crowds of supporters, journalists, partners, friends and family cheering the sailors on and celebrating the send-off.
"Compared to the previous race starts in my IMOCA career, this one is quite special, as in I'm not solo. We have a fantastic team here, the boat is very well prepared and that calms my nerves. So I'm not as anxious as I normally am. I'm in a very positive mindset and honestly, I just can't wait to go out there and start racing." - Ollie Heer
Since taking ownership of the boat in May, the team's learning curve has been steep. Every training sail has been about understanding the boat, refining the systems and finding the opportunities for incremental performance gains.
Now, there is nothing more to prepare.
It's time to race.
One last lap of New York Harbour
The fleet came together for one final exhibition lap of the harbour beneath the iconic Manhattan skyline before dropping sails, motoring down the Hudson River and out towards the Atlantic start line.
145-mile transit to the start
To protect whales, dolphins and other marine megafauna close to the US coastline, the start of The Ocean Race Atlantic has been positioned approximately 145 nautical miles offshore.
The fleet must now complete a 15-20 hour transit through the marine mammal protection zone before reaching the start area.
"It's going to be a pretty long first 24 hours getting out to the start line, but it gives us time to kind of zone in and check out the weather, make sure everything on the boat is tickety-boo. So, we're in a good place. I'm feeling good." - Liz Wardley
"It's a race start so everyone is quite focused, this is the bit we all look forward to - going out and racing up against other boats. It's the first opportunity for us to line up against the rest of the fleet. And you don't really know how fast you're sailing until you until you do that. There's a variety of IMOCAs from all different generations. We know we're going to be slow at times, and we're going to be fast at others. So for us it's about trying to adapt as quick as we can." - Lincoln Dews
The weather ahead
A vital consideration in any sailing race is the weather. The North Atlantic is notoriously unstable at this time of year, often resulting in low pressure systems and storms. Each team needs to choose their optimum route, aiming for enough wind-speed to be able to sail fast, but not so much they risk damage.
Lincoln adds "Weather wise, it's going to be quite interesting. We've got a low pressure system developing behind us. There's potentially lots of thunderstorms just before and during the start. Then the first 18 hours will see us pushing into a light, upwind, North-Easterly. Then the low pressure should develop behind us, pop over onto starboard, line up with the Gulf Stream and we'll put the foot down and start reaching from there. It's going to be fast sailing between 2-4 days into the race. It looks like there could be a 24-hour speed record broken. Then we're just hanging onto that low pressure system all the way back."
The team faces an estimated eight to nine days of relentless racing across the Atlantic. From modern Manhattan to Lorient, the home of offshore racing.
For the first time, Ollie, Liz, Marie and Lincoln will find out how everything they have learned over the summer translates into race performance.
The preparation phase is over. No more training runs.
Now, the real challenge begins.
Follow the Race
The race starts at 10:00 UTC Wednesday 2 September, and there are four ways to follow Embrace The Challenge across the Atlantic.
- Re-watch the New York departure and race coverage on The Ocean Race YouTube channel.
- Follow Embrace The Challenge's progress against the rest of the IMOCA fleet on the live race tracker.
- For the closest possible view, step onboard through the Embrace The Challenge live camera, streaming directly from the boat throughout the Atlantic crossing.
- You can also expect daily news and updates on our usual social channels.
We hope you'll join us for the journey.
#HeerWeGo #EmbraceTheChallenge #TheOceanRace