The leading pack in The Ocean Race Atlantic has been enjoying fast reaching conditions as the top four teams began to count down the final 200 nautical miles of their 3,000 nm passage from New York to Lorient, France.
Early Wednesday the leaders, Kojiro Shiraishi’s DMG MORI Global One (JPN), were hitting speeds close to 30 knots in southerly winds as they made the most of flat water to the north of a high pressure zone that is moving to the south-east.
The Japanese entry, the most southerly boat in the leading group, looks to have the optimum wind angle for rapid progress directly towards Lorient.
At 23:00 UTC Wednesday DMG MORI Global One held a 12-nm lead over Paul Meilhat’s second-placed United by the Ocean (FRA) with Francesca Clapcich’s third-placed 11th Hour Racing (USA) a further 3 nm back.
In fourth – and furthest north – was Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia (GER), who sat 31 nm off the lead.
Although the top four are closely grouped, the crews are focused more on coaxing the maximum performance out of their boats than strategising about boat-on-boat tactics.
Lighter winds are forecast closer to the French coast, which will slow their progress and could see another compression in the top four boats before they reach the finish line.
Latest predictions suggest the first boats home could arrive between 12:00 UTC / 1400 CEST and 1800 UTC / 2000 CEST Thursday 10 September 2026.