Ocean Race Atlantic: sailors to collect data on weakening Gulf Stream

Six of the world's fastest offshore racing yachts will become ocean research vessels this September as they compete in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic. Teams will gather thousands of measurements from the Gulf Stream, one of the planet’s most important and increasingly vulnerable systems.

Departing from New York City on 1st September, the IMOCA fleet will follow the Gulf Stream as the teams race approximately 3,000 nautical miles to Lorient, France.

Supported by Impact Partner 11th Hour Racing, each boat has been equipped with science equipment that allows the collection of critical scientific data while the teams are racing, including sea surface temperature, salinity and dissolved carbon dioxide. They will also collect water samples for microplastics analysis. The data will help scientists better understand changes taking place in a region that plays a vital role in regulating the Earth's climate.

In recent years, scientists have warned that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the vast ocean circulation system that includes the Gulf Stream, is at its weakest point in over 1,000 years. As the climate warms, higher ocean temperatures and increased freshwater from melting ice are believed to be weakening the circulation, hindering the ability of the Atlantic to redistribute heat across the planet’s hemispheres. Changes in Atlantic ocean circulation have been linked to the 2015 heatwave in Europe and could be contributing to current heatwaves. Scientists are concerned the Gulf Stream could be approaching a tipping point with far-reaching consequences for weather patterns, sea levels and ecosystems around the world.

Gathering data about the state of this critical system can be challenging and costly using traditional research vessels alone, with scientists largely dependent on satellites and floats, which both have limitations. The collection of data during the trans-Atlantic race by multiple vessels, at speed, is therefore highly valuable.

Toste Tanhua, senior scientist at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel said: “The fleet of racing yachts in The Ocean Race Atlantic offers a unique opportunity to contribute valuable data that complements the limited data scientists are able to collect themselves. The ongoing collaboration between science organisations and The Ocean Race has proven valuable to fill some of the large gaps in the vast, and under-measured, ocean. Scientists cannot gather as much data as we need by ourselves, but with The Ocean Race sailors, we are working together to understand what is one of the most important ocean systems. This data will increase our understanding of the global climate system, and its engine in the North Atlantic. As the heart of the global ocean circulation, where salty waters cool down and sink to large depths, locking away excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, understanding how this process is changing is of utter importance.”

Each of the foiling IMOCAs has been fitted out with pioneering scientific instruments that capture a range of data. DMG MORI Sailing Team and MSIG Europe will carry Microplastic Sampling Units, while The Ocean Race Essential Ocean Parameter (EOP) Unit will be installed on four boats: Team Malizia, Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing, United by the Ocean and Embrace the Challenge. The EOP is an automated scientific instrument that uses multiple sensors to continuously measure sea surface temperature, salinity, dissolved carbon dioxide, dissolved oxygen and atmospheric pressure. A single unit will collect around 21,600 measurements a day over the 10 days at sea during the race, with the data transmitted to science partners including GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Ifremer and CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), to help fill critical gaps in ocean observations and climate research.

Four of the teams also deployed drifter buoys along the Gulf Stream on their journey over to New York City ahead of the race start. These buoys will send data, via satellite, that supports climate research and helps scientists better understand how ocean circulation is changing.

Stefan Raimund, Senior Science Advisor at The Ocean Race said: "The Ocean Race has been contributing to advancing ocean science for over 25 years. Today, our science programme is the most comprehensive environmental data collection initiative undertaken by any sporting event and we’re proud to be helping researchers build a better understanding of our changing ocean and climate."

The Gulf Stream offers the fastest route northeast across the Atlantic for the teams, while the weather systems generated by the powerful current help create the strong winds needed for a rapid crossing.

The Ocean Race Atlantic 2026 is a high-speed, fully-crewed transatlantic race for the foiling IMOCA class, debuting in September 2026 as the first point-to-point race in The Ocean Race’s 53-year history. The Ocean Race Atlantic is being held with support from Impact Partner, 11th Hour Racing. The event is powered by a shared mission to advance ocean science and literacy, demonstrate sustainable event excellence, and champion equity and inclusion through the first-ever mandatory 50-50 gender-balanced crew.