The inaugural Ocean Race Atlantic has drawn to an exciting close, with Paul Meilhat’s United by the Ocean taking the victory. In second place was Francesca Clapcich’s 11th Hour Racing, followed by Kojiro Shiraishi’s DMG Mori Global One.
“The last 24 hours were really interesting. It wasn’t easy to manage with 11th Hour. But this crew is amazing,” said Meilhat after crossing the finish line. “We steered the boat, full steering, for the last two days. It was exhausting.”
After over a week at sea, the difference between first and second places came down to eight minutes, while the third spot on the podium was scored by just a five minute lead over fourth place.
“The boat is not the latest [design],” Meilhat says of his IMOCA, which he also raced in the 2023 Ocean Race and won the 2025 Ocean Race Atlantic under Biotherm livery. “It is fast, but we had some bad moments because it is not really fast in the big waves. Three days ago we had a really tough night in big waves in the wrong direction. But we know that in medium and light wind on flat water it is really, really fast. A lot of races finish in these conditions. We are a good team with this boat and that is working well.”
Though Clapcich expressed frustrations with being so close to victory, she says they are still “super happy” with the result. “Doing a transat like that of 3,000 miles and ending up just a few minutes apart is a dream. It’s why we go racing, we want to race other teams and it’s pretty cool. You get so close to the other teams that you are not even looking at the numbers anymore because you can see them. You are sailing against them, just looking at them—it’s pretty awesome.”
Though Shiraishi has plenty of miles behind him as a three-time Vendee Globe participant, this is his first season campaigning with a new generation IMOCA (launched earlier in 2026). The team put it to excellent use, leading the fleet for portions of the race. For Shiraishi, who has not generally been a front runner on the IMOCA circuit, this is an outstanding result, and hopefully a sign of good things to come as the team prepares for The Ocean Race in 2027.
“The best team-building exercise is taking your team out of its comfort zone and we definitely did that in this transat, because it was brutal for quite a few days,” says Sam Davies who also sailed with DMG Mori Global One. “We pushed the boat and ourselves to our limits. That’s where you learn: how each person is in the team, how to support each other, and how to communicate with each other. We just saw strengths coming out of each team member and this crazy communication that we have in this international multicultural team.”
United by the Ocean, 11th Hour Racing, DMG Mori, and Malizia were all in the running for victory until the very end. During a stretch of brutal conditions mid-Atlantic, Oliver Heer’s Swiss-flagged Embrace the Change suffered significant damage to the mainsail, and the boat was forced to continue at reduced speeds. Trailing them was Conrad Colman’s MSIG Europe, which lost ground while repairing a furler issue earlier in the race and was never able to catch back up.
For more, visit theoceanrace.com.
Final Results:
1. United by the Ocean – Paul Meilhat, Mariana Lobato, Sara Stone, Benjamin Ferré, Marin Le Roux (OBR)
2. 11th Hour Racing – Francesca Clapcich, Alberto Bona, Elodie-Jane Mettraux, Will Harris, Julien Champolion (OBR)
3. DMG Mori Global One – Kojiro Shiraishi, Sam Davies, Nico Lunven, Arisa Moriya, Anne Beaugé (OBR)
4. Malizia – Boris Herrmann, Cole Brauer, Justine Mettraux, Julien Villion, Gauthier Lebec (OBR)
5. Embrace the Change – Oliver Heer, Lincoln Dews, Marie Riou, Liz Wardley, Paddy Condy (OBR)
6. MSIG Europe – Conrad Colman, Anna Merchant, Eli Pirnay, Megan Thomson, Georgia Schofield (OBR) (Not yet finished at press time)
