Speed dials rising in RORC Transatlantic Race. DAY Two

At 1000 UTC on the second day of the RORC Transatlantic Race, three 70ft trimarans are now powered up on a tight reach, blasting through the Atlantic Ocean. The monohull fleet, racing for the overall win under the IRC Rating Rule, have yet to leave the Canary Islands, with the bulk of the fleet positioned to the north of Tenerife. Boat speeds are ramping up right through the RORC fleet, with the IRC Classes set to join the multihulls in the Atlantic later today or tomorrow.

MULTIHULL CLASS

Frank Slootman’s MOD70 Snowflake (USA), skippered by Gavin Brady was leading as the multihulls approached Tenerife. MOD70 Zoulou (FRA), with Erik Maris at the helm was second and Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati Multi70 (ITA) was in third. Zoulou and Maserati ventured further inshore on the north coast of Tenerife and this move looked to have paid off. At about 0200 UTC, All three teams were at full speed in the acceleration zone between islands. After getting into the constant breeze of the Atlantic Ocean at around dawn, Maserati hit the after-burners, passing Snowflake and winding in Zoulou. The YB Tracker will update at 1200 UTC, revealing which team is the fastest in the current conditions.

IRC SUPER ZERO

Volvo 70 I Love Poland (POL), skippered by Grzegorz Baranowski leads the class and Monohull Line Honours. Second is Swan 115 Jasi (SWE), skippered by Toby Clarke with the Two-Handed duo of Scott Shawyer & Alan Roberts in third racing IMOCA 60 Canada Ocean Racing (CAN). I Love Poland went inshore north of Tenerife to make up ground on the early leader Jasi. The 1000 UTC position report puts I Love Poland three miles ahead of Jasi, but this lead may be slightly exaggerated because I Love Poland has sailed west and nearer the rhumb line.

Jasi’s navigator Tom Robinson contacted the media team to put some real-time commentary into the battle on the water. “We are just to the west of La Gomera at the moment. We had a good night trying to look for some shifts all the way down the side of Tenerife. Through the night it wasn't as windy as we expected. Life is good on board after our first night offshore as a team, with lots of smiles all round. We just got the new weather grib files to assess our strategy over the next couple of days. Jasi has been thundering along averaging 15 knots. I can see I love Poland and we know it’s only a matter of time before their Volvo 70 is in its element, but Jasi is going well.”

(Race report by Louay Habib /RORC)

Event' website and live tracking:  http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/