Gio Soldini takes Line Honours and record at RORC Transatlantic

Giovanni Soldini: It's record! We crossed the finish line of the RORC Transatlantic Race winning Line Honours and setting a new record, of 5 Days, 5 Hours, 46 minutes, 26 seconds.

With a real time of 5 days, 5 hours 46 minutes and 26 seconds, the Italian team completed the feat despite a breakdown on board.

Two extra tonnes of water on board, taken on board following damage to the drift compartments, were not enough to stop the Maserati Multi70's breathtaking race, which crossed the Atlantic at averages of over 22 knots, with peaks of 37, and at 19.45 UTC on Friday 13 January, crossed the finish line of the RORC Transatlantic Race with a time of 5 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 26 seconds.

The Italian team won the "Line Honour Multihull" and also set a new speed record in the prestigious offshore race, beating Snowflake and Team Zoulou, both MOD70s with top-level crews. Shattered by a margin of almost 17 hours the previous record, set by Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70 Phaedo3 in 2015 in 5 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 03 seconds. 

The Italian trimaran's success was made possible by impeccable tactical choices, always in phase with the wind. On board Maserati Multi70 with Giovanni Soldini were the six sailors and mates: Guido Broggi (ITA), Oliver Herrera Perez (ESP), Francesco Malingri (ITA), Francesco Pedol (ITA), Matteo Soldini (ITA) and Lucas Valenza-Troubat (FRA). 

Maserati Multi70, which at the start line had paid slightly for the moderate wind conditions, took the lead of the fleet off the Canary Islands and, in a very high-speed race, then steadily maintained control over its rivals Snowflake (USA, ex Phaedo3) with Brian Thompson and Gavin Brady, Mathew Bryant, Christopher Cowan, John Hunter-hamilton, Stuart Mackinven and David Swete; and Zoulou (FRA) with Ned Collier Wakefield and Loick Peyron together with Thierry Fouchier, Thomas le Breton, Erik Maris, Bruno Mourniac.

"It was exciting, a fantastic course in the trade winds for a regatta that we are all always happy to take part in because there is no other class in the world that brings together such similar boats and with such a high level of professionals doing ocean races. Winning is therefore first and foremost an honour," says Giovanni Soldini.

About halfway through the course, there was an accident: after days of high-speed waves following the breaking of a stopper, the daggerboard slipped off its seat and broke through the hull, and the trimaran took on two tonnes of water in the watertight compartment area, the equivalent of a third of its weight. The crew resettled the dinghy and made makeshift repairs, and continued the rest of the race with an additional load that was difficult to manage, which put strain on the structure and sails, and also affected performance, especially in the last stretch downwind where the wind dropped and the ballast was more noticeable.

The ninth edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in collaboration with Calero Marinas, the International Maxi Association and the Yacht Club de France, started from Lanzarote on 8 January at 14:00 UTC and ends in Grenada, in the Eastern Caribbean.

Maserati Multi70 participated for the fourth time after having competed in the 2016 edition; the 2018 edition, when it crossed the finish line first with a time of 6 days, 18 hours, 54 minutes and 3 seconds; and the 2022 edition when it won with a real time of 6 days, 18 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

For Giovanni Soldini and the entire Maserati Multi70 team, the trans-ocean race marks the beginning of a new season of great sporting events around the world; of important technical challenges such as the fine-tuning of the full-electric system; and of ocean protection programmes such as the monitoring of the sea surface thanks to the Ocean Pack, the machine that measures temperature, salinity and CO2 from on board along the trimaran's routes.