11th RORC Transatlantic Race - Day 5
by Louay Habib / RORC 16 Jan 15:59 UTC
16 January 2025
Juan k 88 Lucky - 2025 RORC Transatlantic Race day 5 © Sailing Energy / Calero Marinas
Five days into the RORC Transatlantic Race, the fleet has left the comforts of everyday life far astern, trading routine for the raw reality of ocean racing.
The familiarity of nine-to-five workdays, knife and fork meals, and a full night's sleep, are all distant memories. Instead, life onboard is distilled to the essentials: sleep is a fleeting recharge, food is consumed as fuel, and sail repairs are part of the routine. The ultimate measure of success is the relentless pursuit of pace with the boat's speed dial revealing the true 24-hour score.
Standings on Day 5 - 0900 UTC
Monohull Line Honours-Lucky, Multihull Line Honours-Rayon Vert
IRC Overall & IRC Zero-Tschuss 2, IRC One-Ino Noir, IRC Two-Pata Negra
Live Standings here
The race for Monohull Line Honours and the IMA Transatlantic Race Trophy
Bryon Ehrhart's Juan K 88 Lucky (USA) and Christian Zugel's Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 (USA) are contesting the first to finish for the RORC Transatlantic Race. Fans will have noticed that Lucky's satellite tracker is not updating, their position is being entered manually by the RORC Race team.
At midnight on Day Four, Lucky was sailing 230 miles south of the rhumb line and 1,707 miles from the finish. Close behind, Tschüss 2 followed a similar course, trailing by just 49 miles. Lucky's earlier blistering speed has slowed, likely due to lighter winds in the area. Forecasts suggest the northeast gradient wind has dropped to around 15 knots. However, with stronger winds expected to return from the northeast, Tschüss 2 is hopeful they can close the gap in the days and hours ahead.
Multihull Class
All of the multihulls in the RORC Transatlantic Race are south of the rhumb line approximately 300 miles north of the Cabo Verde Islands. Leading on the water and after MOCRA time correction is Oren Nataf's Pulsar 50 Rayon Vert (FRA).
"A good atmosphere aboard Rayon Vert," commented Francois Seruzier who is racing doublehanded with Oren Nataf. "The trade winds are now firmly established, and there won't be many major tactical decisions left to make. From here on, it's straight ahead as fast as possible. So, we're trying our best to fine-tune the boat. The relatively calm weather gives us time to cook, which is much better than freeze-dried meals. French cuisine is in the spotlight today with beef cheeks for lunch. But since we have an Italian onboard, pasta is a must!"
Second after time correction in the Multihull Class is Clarin Mustad's Alibi 54 Dakota (CH) and ranked third is Aldo Fumagalli's Rapido 53 Picomole (ITA). Jacopo Bracco's Banuls 53 Finn (USA) is the most southerly of the multihull fleet, looking to hook into better pressure but also racking up extra miles to try to find that advantage.
IRC One
James Neville's Carkeek 45 Ino Noir (GBR) continues to impress, leading IRC One by a handsome margin and estimated to be second overall to Tschüss 2 after IRC time correction. Patrick Isoard's Open 50 Uship-pour Enfants du Mekong (FRA) is ranked second in class. The HSV youth team on Haspa Hamburg (GER), skippered by Wibke Borrmann is ranked third.
Ino Noir is well ahead in IRC One but is 18 hours behind on IRC corrected time from Tschüss 2, the overall race leader. Ino Noir's James Neville commented on Day Four:
"It was a very tough 48 hours leaving Canaries, Ino Noir found loads of acceleration between the Canary Islands and big seas which gave us a great start. Right now, we have 13-16 knots of wind and it's getting warmer so we are racing in shorts and t-shirts. We are very happy with position and now we have done a lot of southerly, we will be heading west on track for Grenada."
Ino Noir's John Hunter Hamilton added: "The first 36 hours were brutal; we blew the tacks out of two of our four spinnakers in some fairly short seas and big breeze off Gran Canaria. The last 48 hours have been much more pleasant; beautiful sunny days and clear skies with a full moon at night. From the end of Day 5 we think it will get windier and windier to the finish. Crew moral is good just trying to fight our way back into the positive on this war of (sail) attrition. Already dreaming of rum punch!"
IRC Two
With such a diverse range of boats, strategy has also been varied in IRC Two. Andrew & Sam Hall's Lombard 46 Pata Negra (GBR) leads after IRC time correction. Pata Negra has put in an enormous number of gybes to keep close to the rhumb line.
Second in class ranking, but leading IRC Two on the water is Class40 Tquila (GBR), skippered by Alister Richardson. Tquila with a full asymmetric sail set-up has put the hammer down, heading south of the rhumb line.
"The boats doing well and we managed to keep our A2 in one piece. On the second night we got up to 28knots and switched to the A6 but it seemed like it was a mistake to switch as the wind didn't last for long and it was a lot of faffing around for just the three of us of us, but we still have our A2!"
Third in ranking for IRC Two is Jouko Kallio's Swan 651 Spirit of Helsinki (FIN), goose-winged to run towards Grenada at maximum VMG. Like Ino Noir and other boats, Spirit of Helsinki has been busy repairing sails as navigator Michael Wahlroos explained: "Greetings from Helsinki, the busiest sail loft in the Atlantic! Early in the race, we hit a 37 knot gust! We had 18 knots of boat speed but the S5 was badly torn. The team is putting it back together for hopefully more wind to come."
All of the competing boats in the 2025 RORC Transatlantic Race will be equipped with satellite trackers displaying their position, course and speed. Race fans will also be given a boat's estimated corrected time for the race, offering dynamic insights into class and overall standings throughout the race. To view the free YB Tracker go to the official website. For smartphones, go to your app store for the free YB Races download.
For more information about the RORC Transatlantic Race: rorctransatlantic.rorc.org