Champagne on Ice for Nomad IV

Maxi yacht Nomad IV is expected to take Monohull Line Honours in the RORC Transatlantic Race later today with ZED 6 in full flight coming in from the north and Nunatak celebrate mid-Atlantic with shooting stars and Jelly Babies. For the next few days, steady tradewinds of 15-20 knots are predicted for the yachts at the front of the RORC Transatlantic fleet, giving a fast broad reach to Grenada.

Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada is bracing itself for the arrival of the RORC Transatlantic fleet with a warm welcome and the cold beer on ice. After a fast 10 day crossing, Jean-Paul Riviere's French Finot Conq 100 Nomad IV has just 84 miles to go. Having averaged just under 12 knots for the 3,000 mile race, Nomad IV led the monohull fleet out of the Canary Islands and has never looked like relinquishing their advantage. It will be a sweet victory for the French/Russian team as in last year's inaugural race, the powerful canting keel Maxi broke their boom forcing their retirement shortly after the start. It was interesting to see that Nomad IV chose to leave Barbados to port, avoiding a potential wind shadow from the only Caribbean island on the rhumb line. Will the other yachts choose the same route or try to gain miles by cutting the corner?

Two of these trophies are still up for grabs. MOD70, Phaedo3 already snapped up the one on the right for Multihull Line Honours! Now the race is on for the IMA Trophy and RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy.
Follow the nailbiting race here: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking/2015-fleet-tracking.html

Nomad IV is the firm favourite to lift the IMA Trophy for Monohull Line Honours, but now has a slender lead to lift the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy for the best elapsed time under IRC. Southern Wind 94, Windfall, skippered by Irish Olympian, Tim Goodbody have been catching up Nomad IV. Windfall is now estimated to be under five hours behind Nomad IV on corrected time. Nomad IV damaged their spinnaker two days ago and the team will be hoping that the repair will hold out. As Nomad IV approaches the finish several gybes will be required to negotiate the leeward side of Grenada. Perfecting these manoeuvres will be essential to retain the overall lead under IRC.

Gerald Bibot and Michel Kleinjans Belgian catamaran, ZED 6 is expected to be the next yacht to finish the race after Nomad IV. Gerald is the founder of Great Circle which produces the revolutionary weather prediction and routing programme, Squid. The Two-Handed team predicted the faster passage would be a northerly route and ZED 6 stuck to their guns and was the only team to take the cold, and at times brutal 'high road' line. "ZED 6 has similar polars to a Class40, so we will know if our chosen route is correct if we fair well against them," commented Gerald before the start of the race. ZED 6 is currently 260 miles ahead of the leading Class 40, Gonzalo Botin's Spanish Tales II and 150 miles ahead of  Windfall.

Maurice Benzaquen's French Pogo 12.50, Aloha is currently 1,100 miles from Grenada and expected to finish the race on Monday 14 December. The French team are all from Brittany and have a secret weapon - French cuisine, as Maurice explained by satellite connection on Sunday 7 December:

"Here we are with over half the race completed and no more fresh food. Only a few oranges left, two peppers, some carrots and 10 potatoes. But we have some special cans! Starting yesterday night with a Cassoulet du Quercy with confit duck legs and haricots Tarbais. For the remainder of the race our choice is between: Cuisseau de Pintade au Monbazillac, Coq au Vin de Cahors, Tripoux Aveyronnais de Naucelles with potatoes from Lanzarote. Other delights include toast with Foie Gras de Canard du Lot and Filet de Porc confit. We have no more fruit left either so we have to make ourselves some Verrines de Fruits Exotiques with a crumble of speculos. Not to forget homemade tuna fish cans cooked by our friend Christian from Douarnenez. Bon appetit!"

Elin Haf Davies also contacted the RORC media team by satellite connection. Racing Two-Handed with Chris Frost, their J/120, Nunatak has 1,500 miles to go to reach Grenada.

"Well it's all happening here on Nunatak as we finally crossed the halfway mark! HOORAY! But boy it was a long time coming. Yesterday morning was particularly hectic as we had two squalls hit us in quick succession. Not sure if I've already mentioned it but we don't use snuffers and drop our kites via the letter box. Which obviously means completely repacking each one each time. On a good drop I can manage to get the kite down the companion way all by myself. On a bad one, Chris has to jump from behind the helm (in Ninja style!), to help me out. The second squall resulted in a particularly bad drop which required a major effort by us all! Thankfully with no damage to kite or boat, but my porridge did fly across the deck and land in my already very smelly deck shoes. Yuck! In other news the nights are now becoming a little bit lighter and we're able to see an amazing galaxy of stars, including a lot of shooting stars. I saw one spectacular one last night and made an extra special wish, that Chris would let me eat all the halfway celebratory Jelly Beans to myself! Not all shooting stars make your wishes come true it seems. My cooking skills have also reached new heights. For lunch today we had a tablespoon of Nutella and a handful of salted cashew nuts. I was able to persuade Chris that it was the right combination of protein, carbohydrates, sugar and salt to count as a nutritious meal for all top performing sailors...! Wind is all over the place, in terms of direction, but GRIB files promises that it should be better soon. Keeping everything crossed for a faster second half.

"P.S any Guardian readers out there - keep an eye out for Wednesday's edition, where my digital health start up, aparito is featured as one of the Nominet Trust top 100 tech social enterprises. Thrilled to hear the news, if a bit disappointed to be missing out on the party!"

Follow the progress of the rest of the fleet: Latest news, blogs from the boats and photos: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/

Follow the progress of the race via the fleet: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking/2015-fleet-tracking.html

ENDS/...
NOTES TO EDITORS:

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FOLLOW THE FLEET: Follow the progress of the race via the fleet tracker:
The RORC Transatlantic Race started at 1200 local time (GMT +0) from Marina Lanzarote bound for Grenada. RORC Transatlantic Race YB Tracker: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking/2015-fleet-tracking.html

RACE MINISITE: For more information visit the dedicated event minisite: http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/

RORC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOceanRacingClub/

TWITTER:  #rorcrtr @RORCracing

VIRTUAL RACE: Well over 5000 armchair admirals have already signed up for the RORC Transatlantic Virtual Race: http://click.virtualregatta.com/?li=4540

THE RORC TRANSATLANTIC RACE:

    The second RORC Transatlantic Race starts in Lanzarote on Saturday 28th November 2015 and the 2,995 nautical mile race runs through the Canary Islands before crossing the Atlantic to arrive in Grenada
    The race is run in association with the International Maxi Association (IMA)
    The winner of the inaugural RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy for best elapsed time under IRC in 2014 was Jeremy Pilkington's Lupa of London. The Baltic 78 was also presented with the International Maxi Association's Line Honours Trophy at a prizegiving ceremony held at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina at the finish in Grenada

THE ORGANISERS:

    Established in 1925, The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) became famous for the biennial Fastnet Race and the international team event, the Admiral's Cup. It organises an annual series of domestic offshore races from its base in Cowes as well as inshore regattas such as the RORC Easter Challenge and IRC National Championships in the Solent
    The RORC works with other yacht clubs to promote their offshore races and provides marketing and organisational support. The RORC Caribbean 600 based in Antigua and the first offshore race in the Caribbean, has been an instant success and last year the RORC extended its organisational expertise by creating the new RORC Transatlantic Race from Lanzarote to Grenada in November 2014 
    The club is based in St James' Place, London and Cowes, Isle of Wight
    In co-operation with the French offshore racing club, UNCL, RORC is responsible for IRC, the principal international handicap system for yacht racing worldwide.The Spinlock IRC rating rule is administered jointly by the RORC Rating Office in Lymington, UK and UNCL Centre de Calcul in Paris, France. The RORC Rating Office is the technical hub of the Royal Ocean Racing Club and recognised globally as a centre of excellence for measurement. For Spinlock IRC rating information in the UK please see:  www.rorcrating.com 
    www.rorc.org
    http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/
    Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:  #rorcrtr

INTERNATIONAL MAXI ASSOCIATION (IMA):

    The racing activities for the Maxi as a separate class started in Porto Cervo in 1980 with the first Maxi Yacht Cup. Immediately afterwards an association of the Maxi owners was founded under the name "International Class A Yacht Association" (ICAYA) with Baron E. de Rothschild elected the first President of the Class. The legal office was created in Geneva, Switzerland. "Class A" was the definition of a Maxi boat in the IOR rating system in force at that time. The following year Gianfranco Alberini was appointed first Secretary General of the Association. ICAYA organized the Maxi Yacht World Championship for many years in Porto Cervo as its European base, as well in other venues in USA - Honolulu, Newport R.I., Miami, St. Thomas, San Francisco. In Europe Puerto Portales, Antibes and Saint Tropez were selected as championship locations
    When the definition "Class A" disappeared with the change from IOR it was decided to rename the Class as "International Maxi Association" (IMA). The Class is now registered in Geneva (Switzerland), has a base in Porto Cervo and an office in the USA, for rating and technical matters. The Class is now expanding its activities, and in 2010 the first Mini Maxi World Championship took place in September in Porto Cervo, Italy,  In 2011 the new Rolex Volcano Race opened the Mediterranean sailing season
    Andrew McIrvine took over as Secretary General in 2013. In 2014 the pure racer Mini Maxis were reformed into the Maxi 72 Class. The IMA has organised previous Maxi Transatlantic races but this is the first in association with RORC. IMA has presented a vintage trophy for line honours for this new race
    IMA is a recognized member of the IRC Congress. Since November 2010 ISAF has recognised the Maxis as an international class. This means that the International Maxi Association is now the sole authority with the right to hold World and Continental Maxi Championships
    http://www.internationalmaxiassociation.com/

CALERO MARINAS:

    Calero Marinas has developed and manages three marinas in the Canary Islands, having accrued over 35 years' experience in the sector. The Canaries' warm climate and regular supply of breeze has lead Lanzarote to become a favourite training ground for offshore race teams, whilst the combination of good flight connections and easily available services has created a popular and reliable base for international sailors
    Marina Lanzarote is the newest addition to the group with secure berthing for vessels of up to 60m LOA, a wide range of services and the advantage of having the city and maritime quarter within a few minutes' walk
    The new shipyard is equipped to hoist superyachts and the inclusion of deep keel pits in the yard's design was considered especially to meet the needs of transoceanic racing yachts
    www.caleromarinas.com

Enquiries: msymes@caleromarinas.com

GRENADA TOURISM AUTHORITY:

    The premium yachting destination in the Southern Caribbean. Grenada and The Grenadines are widely considered to be the most unspoilt cruising grounds in the Caribbean. Famed for its people's warm and gregarious hospitality the 'Spice Island' of Grenada has a varied topography of mountains, rainforests and waterfalls, fringed by icing sugar beaches and cooled by trade winds
    www.puregrenada.com
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/discovergrenada
    Twitter:  www.twitter.com/puregrenada

WESTERHALL RUMS:

    http://www.westerhallrums.co.uk/

    The major operation of the company is the blending and bottling of rum, which has been in practice since the 1700s where Westerhall apply a secret family recipe to create their world famous rums. The company now produces seven brands of rum, with its flagship brand being Westerhall Vintage Rum. The company has always put great emphasis on maintaining high standards and quality control and today works to the highest international standards at every stage of the process from blending and bottling to labelling.
    https://www.facebook.com/Westerhall-Rums-Grenada

CAMPER & NICHOLSONS PORT LOUIS MARINA:

    Camper & Nicholsons is widely recognised to be one of the world's oldest and most prestigious yachting business names, with origins dating back to 1782 when boat building began at Gosport, in the south of England

    Owned and managed by Camper & Nicholsons Marinas, Port Louis Marina has transformed Grenada's yachting facilities. Overlooking the historic capital St Georges and designed to reflect the traditional Creole architecture, the marina offers 170 berths, including 30 superyacht berths for vessels from 25m to 90m LOA, and up to 7m draft
    http://www.cnmarinas.com

MEDIA ENQUIRIES & High res images/Interviews:
Trish Jenkins - RORC Transatlantic Race
Press Liaison
M: +44 (0)7880 518689
E:  press@rorc.org

RACE REPORTS:
Louay Habib
M: +44 (0)7801 800521
E:  louayhabib@gmail.com

RORC RACE ENQUIRIES:
Nick Elliott, Racing Manager
Royal Ocean Racing Club
T: +44 (0) 1983 295144
E:   racing@rorc.org
W:  http://www.rorc.org/

ROYAL OCEAN RACING CLUB:
20 St James's Place
London SW1A 1NN
Tel: 020 7493 2248
Fax: 020 7493 2470
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