First monohull in Transatlantic Race

(January 18, 2024) – Farr 100 Leopard 3 (MON), skippered by Chris Sherlock, today has taken Monohull Line Honors in the 10th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race. The international team of 17 completed the race in an elapsed time of 10 days 17 hrs 23 mins 51 secs.

“Leopard suffered a major setback just two days into the race,” shared Sherlock. “It wasn’t a significant hit, but what was believed to be a whale, which badly damaged our port rudder, delaminating one meter up. We made a calculated decision on board to keep pushing on and to see if the rudder held, with options to pull into the Cape Verde Islands, or continue.

“The rudder held across the Atlantic and we have taken Line Honors, so we have achieved our goal. Our preparation for this race was really good; Gian (Ahluwalia) and his team did a terrific job getting the boat ready. Excluding the misdemeanor of the rudder damage on day two, we are very happy with how we sailed the boat.”

“We have competed with Leopard in several 600 mile races; the Aegean, the RORC Caribbean 600 and the Rolex Middle Sea Race,” added Sherlock. “These races are two or three days long and the RORC Transatlantic Race was the next type of challenge. It is a life-changing experience to race across the ocean. The experience in the middle of the ocean is amazing, you are transcended to another place. Leopard 3 is super-exciting and thrilling.

“This has been an adventure with a crew of 17, with all the ups – like beautiful sailing, moonlit nights and going through the finish line; and there are the downs, like damaging the boat, 30 knot squalls. We have been building this team for five years; all of the crew are very capable and there is a tremendous atmosphere on board. The crew have crossed the Atlantic a huge number of times and we benefit from their knowledge, but you can really see their passion, and that is a big part of why we do this.”

For this race, Leopard’s tactician was Mitch Booth who was skipper for the 100-foot Maxi Comanche when they set the Monohull elapsed record of 7 days, 22 hrs, 01 mins, 04 secs set in 2022.

“Every RORC Transatlantic Race is a different event, but this one was really quite unique,” commented Mitch. “We had a huge weather system to the north which looked like a route that would really punish you. So, like just about all of the fleet, we went south, which adds a lot more miles to the race, and we had light conditions. So this was a slow race but very tactical and very enjoyable; even though we had damage, we still had a lot of fun.”

As for when there will be a showdown between Comanche and Leopard, Booth noted how Comanche would be heading to Europe this season. “We will clash at a couple of events and go head-to-head; it’s going to be a very interesting battle! Leopard has had such a big upgrade, giving a huge jump in performance, but Comanche is a weapon. It will be great to see two 100-footers at the top of their game in some big races.”

Leopard 3 will be racing next month in both the RORC Nelson’s Cup Series and the RORC Caribbean 600. For the inshore racing, Leopard 3 will have strong competition from Wendy Schmidt’s phenomenal Botin 85 Deep Blue (USA). For the RORC Caribbean 600 Leopard’s rival for Monohull Line Honors will be the 107-foot Wally Spirit of Malouen X (FRA) raced by the Paprec Sailing Team and skippered by Stephane Neve.

Chris Sheehan’s PAC52 Warrior Won (USA) also finished today as the second yacht, completing the course in an elapsed time of 11 days 05 hrs 18 mins 29 secs. Warrior Won leads the fleet on corrected time.

Race details – Entry list – Tracker – Facebook

The 10th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race will start January 7 from the Spanish island of Lanzarote of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, with 22 teams competing on the 3,000 nm course to Grenada. France has the most entrants with eight boats with other teams representing Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States of America.

The Multihull elapsed record is 5 days 5 hours 46 mins 26 secs set in 2023 by Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati Multi70.

The Monohull elapsed record is 7 days, 22 hrs, 01 mins, 04 secs set in 2022 by the 100ft VPLP Design/Verdier Comanche, skippered by Mitch Booth.

Source: RORC