Scottish actor Ewan McGregor has set sail from Scotland on an extraordinary 6,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic for a new television series.
The 55-year-old Star Wars and Trainspotting star has swapped motorcycles for a sailing boat as he attempts to travel from Oban to Brazil with his childhood friend Eric Strickland.
Their unsupported transatlantic expedition is being filmed for a new documentary series called True Wind, reuniting McGregor with director David Alexanian and members of the team behind his hugely successful Long Way travel programmes.
McGregor and Strickland left Oban at the end of August and are expected to reach Brazil later this autumn.
The pair have been friends since primary school and the journey fulfils a childhood ambition to cross the Atlantic together.
McGregor is taking on the challenge despite having previously described himself as a complete novice when it comes to sailing.
Speaking about the expedition, he said: “I always thought that being on a small boat in the middle of a huge ocean must be very close to experiencing real adventure, at a time when adventure is harder and harder to find.
“I’ve never been far offshore before, and my friends and I will have to be self-sufficient and ready to cope with whatever the weather, the sea and the boat throw our way.”
The pair are making the journey aboard a nearly 40-year-old Oyster sailing yacht which has been restored for the expedition.
Strickland, founder of Taymouth Marina in Perthshire, has some sailing experience and is skipper, while McGregor is serving as first mate.
Cinematographer Anthony von Seck and director Alexanian are also on board as the voyage is documented for True Wind.
McGregor and Strickland prepared for the expedition for months, including training at Loch Tay in Perthshire.
They also joined the Emirates Great Britain SailGP team in New York in May for a high-speed sailing lesson aboard an F50 racing catamaran capable of speeds approaching 100km/h.
McGregor described that experience as an “extraordinary adrenaline rush”.
True Wind marks a return to adventure television for McGregor following the success of the Long Way series with his friend Charley Boorman.
Long Way Round, released in 2004, followed McGregor and Boorman as they travelled by motorcycle from London to New York via Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and Alaska.
It was followed by Long Way Down, Long Way Up and, most recently, Long Way Home.
The new adventure is markedly different, with McGregor heading out into the Atlantic without the extensive support network normally associated with a major television production.
True Wind is being produced in partnership with Elixir Films and Lief Entertainment Company.
McGregor and Strickland’s journey will also become a book.
True Wind: Two Friends, One Boat and an Impossible Crossing is due to be published by Pan Macmillan in September 2027.
The publisher describes it as the story of a 6,000-mile voyage of “friendship, courage and survival”, following the pair from their childhood friendship through preparations in Scotland and ultimately out into the Atlantic.
The planned route takes the crew from Scotland through the Irish Sea, towards the west coast of Africa and eventually across the Atlantic to Brazil.
McGregor said of the adventure: “We’re so excited to team up for this journey. See you in Brazil!”