The crew, led by Conrad Colman alongside Anna Marchant, Megan Thomson and Elie Pirnay have now finished The Ocean Atlantic, coming home in sixth place

MSIG Europe was finished in place by the race committee on a shortened course, approximately 15 miles from the finish line, due to extremely light winds and adverse tidal current. The official finish time is 12/09/2026 at 07:40:00 UTC, following 9 days 7 hours 40 minutes of racing.

While the gap of nearly two days to the winners, United by the Ocean, was significant, the predominantly New Zealand crew put in a strong performance aboard MSIG Europe, the only boat in the fleet fitted with a straight keel and daggerboards which put it at a significant disadvantage in foiling conditions.

In many ways, Conrad Colman, the Kiwi skipper of the team, has a lot in common with Paul Meilhat. Beyond their incredible passion for offshore sailing, both sailors share the same determination, energy and ability to move mountains to make their projects happen and see them through to the end. Conrad is one of those sailors who goes the extra mile to give himself the incredible opportunity to compete in the top races in his sport, and to give everything he has once he is on the water.

One year after competing in The Ocean Race Europe with Alan Roura, Conrad was back aboard a boat he knows inside out, having bought it in 2022. Designed by Verdier, this straight-keel IMOCA is the oldest boat in the fleet, having been launched in 2007. But that matters little: the boat is reliable, and Conrad knows her very well.

Anything but plain sailing

For The Ocean Race Atlantic, the Kiwi decided to put together a predominantly New Zealand crew. Anna Marchant, Megan Thomson and Georgia Schofield (OBR) were joined just a few days before the start by Elie Pirnay, a versatile member of the shore crew / technical crew, who stepped in to replace Aaron Hume-Merry after he was injured during the delivery trip to New York.

The race was anything but straightforward for the New Zealand team. After a very strong start, staying within 50 miles of the leaders throughout the first day, they gradually lost ground as the conditions intensified. By Friday, they were more than 100 miles behind the leaders, with the gap reaching as much as 400 miles on Sunday.

The crew also had to deal with a number of technical issues: a problem with the furling system on the headsail on Friday, followed by the boom track being torn away on Sunday. “The boat is struggling, and we’re being thrown around like we’re in a washing machine in this rough sea,” Conrad said mid-race. “With the violent impacts on the rig, I’m worried we’re eventually going to break everything.”

Yet the team held firm and did more than simply hang on. Three days after the start, they even surprised everyone by taking third place in the “Super Sprint.” Later, helped by favourable conditions, they clawed back some of the miles they had lost during the final days of the race.

“We’ve been eating into the deficit,” Conrad said on Wednesday. “It’s allowed us to claw back quite a few miles on Embrace the Challenge. It shows that we’ve managed to compete with them.”

In the end, their determination paid off. They can finally savour the joy of reaching the finish, bringing the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic to a close with smiles on their faces.