Trade wind sailing in RORC Transatlantic

(November 28, 2018; Day 5) – The leading multihulls are now approximately halfway along the course in the RORC Transatlantic Race having already sailed 1,700 miles. Conversely, the smaller boats have only covered between 500 and 600 nautical miles and still have around 2,500 miles to go.

At 0800 UTC, Giovanni Soldini’s Multi 70 Maserati had a slender lead over Peter Cunningham’s MOD 70 PowerPlay having opted for a route slightly further to the south. The two boats had split tacks in an effort to gain an advantage over the other.

Maserati is currently winning the battle having the advantage of being on starboard gybe and therefore able to use their lifting foil (the other foil is traditional), though Soldini reported yesterday how they were able to only fly for a couple of hours but had to slow down when the waves got too big.

Both trimarans are currently travelling at over 20 knots and expected to finish in Grenada early on Saturday, December 1.

Around 500 miles astern of the two multis is Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s Baltic 130 My Song which is a mere 18 miles behind the current monohull record at this stage of the race. My Song is the new overall leader under IRC as Franco Niggeler’s Cookson 50 Kuka3 continues to head south towards the Azores; presumably with the aim of finding the strongest pressure. Trever Middleton’s Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep is following a similar course to Kuka3 and continues to hold a comfortable third place in IRC.

The battle of the Class40s continues with Catherine Pourre’s Eärendil edging further ahead of Henrik Bergesen’s Hydra and currently holds a lead of around 16 miles.

The chasing pack made up of Black Sheep, Sirius, Xtra Staerk and Kali are now firmly in the trade winds and all are making good speeds in a south-westerly direction.

Race details – Tracker – Facebook

Background: Ten teams started the 5th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race from Marina Lanzarote at 1200 UTC on November 24, 2018. The 2,865 nautical mile-long race from the Canary Islands to Grenada is the final challenge in the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s 2018 calendar, and is viewed as a transition to the RORC Caribbean 600 in February 2019.

CURRENT RACE RECORDS:

Monohull Record:
10 days 07 hours 06 minutes and 59 seconds
NOMAD IV, FINOT-CONQ 100
In 2015, Jean-Paul Riviere’s French Finot-Conq 100, Nomad IV set a record for the RORC Transatlantic Race and was also awarded the International Maxi Association Transatlantic Trophy for Monohull line honours

Multihull Record:
5 days 22 hours 46 minutes 03 seconds
PHAEDO3, MOD70
In 2016, Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70, Phaedo3 set the multihull record for the race

Class40 record:
12 days 12 hours 36 minutes 32 seconds
TALES II, CLASS40
Gonzalo Botin’s Spanish Class40, Tales II was the first Class40 to complete the race in 2015, setting a Class40 record

Source: Louay Habib