RORC Transatlantic Race, Day 6: multihulls close in on Grenada

12 January 2024 1500 UTC – The battle for Multihull Line Honours in the RORC Transatlantic Race is expected to be decided tomorrow, Saturday 13th January. MOD70 Argo holds the advantage, but Zoulou is closing in on the race leader.

Ranking 12 January at 1500 UTC: Multihull Line Honours & MOCRA - Argo (USA), Monohull Line Honours & IRC SZ - Leopard 3 (MON). IRC Overall & IRC One – Cocody (FRA), IRC Zero – Warrior Won (USA), Class40 Sensation Extreme (FRA) and IRC Two Handed Tigris (GBR).

MULTIHULL

Jason Carroll’s MOD70 Argo (USA) leads the race and is 683nm from Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada. Erik Maris’ MOD70 Zoulou (FRA) is second. Both MOD70s have been recording close to 30 knots of boat speed, making the difference between them paper thin. In the last three speed updates Zoulou has been four knots quicker. Multihull Line Honours is likely to be decided before sunset in Grenada on Saturday 13th January.

Alexia Barrier’s MOD 70 Limosa – The Famous Project (FRA) is over 500 miles behind the leaders. Both Argo and Zoulou have a fully foiling configuration which is much faster than the original foiling package on Limosa. Adrian Keller’s Nigel Irens 84 Allegra (SUI) is about 2,000 miles from Grenada and has a lot of time to make up to challenge for the corrected time win in the MOCRA Class.

DAY 6 UPDATE - POSITION AT 1500 UTC 12 January 2024

Leading the Monohulls on the water is Farr 100 Leopard 3 (MON), skippered by Chris Sherlock and favourite for the IMA Transatlantic Trophy. Leopard crossed the 1,000 mile sailed geo-fence just after dawn on Day 6. An area of light wind north of Leopard is still affecting her boat speed. Chris Sheehan’s PAC52 Warrior Won (USA) is just 40 miles astern. However, the wind is due to increase for Leopard before Warrior Won, so expect Leopard to stretch that lead in the next 24 hours.

IRC OVERALL

Richard Fromentin’s JPK 1180 Cocody (FRA) still leads the race overall after IRC time correction. The highly experienced team from Lorient have been battling headwinds and a huge sea state for the last 24 hours and will continue to do so for at least another day. The northerly route doesn’t get much easier in terms of tactics either; after battling upwind in big breeze, Cocody will then need to cross the transition zone to get on course for Grenada. The biggest threat for now to Cocody’s overall lead under IRC is Warrior Won and Leopard 3. Fourth overall after IRC time correction is Jean-Pierre Dreau’s Mylius 60 Lady First 3 (FRA), just 22 minutes behind Leopard after IRC time correction.

Three pro-am teams are battling within IRC Super Zero; Johannes Schwarz Farr 70 Ocean Breeze (AUT) is the most southerly of the trio and is the closest to Grenada. However RP 70 Green Dragon (SUI), skippered by Benedikt Clauberg leads the trio after IRC time correction. Farr 65 Sisi, skippered by Oliver Kobale is just 21 minutes behind Green Dragon after IRC time correction. The three boats are spread 170 miles north to south across the Atlantic Ocean, but the battle after IRC time correction is a close one.
Mikhail Malamud’s ClubSwan 50 Pimu (USA) is engaged in a close encounter on the water with Hanno Ziehm’s Marten 49 Moana (GER). Pimu has Moana in the ‘rear view mirror’ just 5 miles astern, but after IRC time correction Moana leads Pimu by 15 hours.

A number of teams in the RORC Transatlantic Race are sending back pictures and video from on board. These are posted on the RORC social media pages, including Instagram and Facebook. All of the boats in the RORC Transatlantic Race are fitted with YB Trackers with regular position reports and more data available from the official website. The RORC Transatlantic Race is part of the RORC Season’s Points Championship, the world’s largest offshore racing series.