Heading home! Clarisse Crémer starts the New York Vendée transatlantic race.

Today, Wednesday, May 29th, Clarisse Crémer took the start of the New York Vendée transatlantic race. This race will take her to Les Sables d'Olonne,  over a course of approximately 3100 nautical miles. The skippers had to spend last night at sea to position themselves on the start line on time for the official race start today.

In most races the start is within view or reach of the land, but with a strict exclusion zone in place off the east coast of the US to protect marine mammals, this race starts far out to sea. This measure aims to minimize the risk of collisions with marine mammals in the area. The IMOCA skippers are out there without their support teams, who normally help them prepare for the start and jump off just a few minutes before the starting signal. There will also be no spectator boats to witness their departure.  But this is ocean racing and all the skippers will be focussed on the task ahead - to cross the Atlantic as fast and as safely as they can. 

The "start signal" will be given today, Wednesday at 8pm French time (2pm EST), the biodiversity protection zone determined to the north and the first waypoint named ‘Share the Ocean’- will require the sailors to head south after the start.  

For once in IMOCA racing, the weather conditions seem favorable for the start of this race. The fleet should start in fairly light winds that will gradually strengthen over the coming days. The current situation has Clarisse sitting between two fronts in a low pressure trough, the conditions are light (5 - 12 knots) with winds generally from the west. The seastate is not remarkable with waves around 1m in height, but with a 6 second period between waves it will still be uncomfortable out there even in light winds.

Crossing the line will earn some skippers their place in the coveted Vendee Globe, for Clarisse she needs all the miles available that this race offers.