Party begins for RORC Transatlantic

(December 2, 2018; Day 9) – With Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati Multi 70 and Peter Cunningham’s MOD70 PowerPlay (above) yesterday finishing their 2,865 nm match race amid the 2018 RORC Transatlantic Race, Italian Supermaxi My Song, sailed by Pier Luigi Loro Piana, has 723 miles and two more days before their finish in Grenada. My Song is currently ahead of record pace for the monohull race record and hot favourite for the IMA Trophy for Monohull Line Honours.

Catherine Pourre’s Eärendil leads the Class40s from Stephane Bry’s French-Finnish Sirius. Henrik Bergesen’s Hydra is third, and making up the miles after the pit stop for repairs. “Our friends from Hydra have restarted from Capo Verde. They are 400 miles behind us and we will keep an eye on them, as well as on Sirius which is now almost 300 miles behind,” commented Catherine Pourre.

“It is getting Sirius!” joked Ari Kaensaekoski on board Class40 Sirius: “Surfing up to 19 knots, wind is steady in the low 20s and the sea state is slowly building towards real Atlantic surfing conditions. We are looking forward to getting those towering waves and downhill rides!”

Pip Hare on board Hydra explained the reason for their pit stop in the Cape Verde Islands and the highs and lows of racing across the Atlantic:

“After pushing Hydra as much as possible, trying to match the boat speed of Eärendil, we started to feel some play in the steering system. On further inspection we realised that the aft tiller bearings had broken. We took the difficult decision to turn for the Cape Verdes and so be out of contention for first place, which was tough on morale.

“With the help of some great friends we managed to organise the parts by satellite phone and pulled off a pit stop Lewis Hamilton would have been chuffed with! New bearings, fresh morale and a belly full of pizza – we are back in the race. We have a new objective, to hunt down second place.”

Franco Niggeler’s Swiss Cookson 50, Kuka3 was estimated to be leading the fleet after IRC time correction for the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy. Kuka3 had 1,188 miles to go. My Song was estimated to be second after IRC time correction, with the smallest boat in the race, Trevor Middleton’s British Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep estimated to be third.

Race details – Tracker – Results – 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