RORC Transatlantic Race, Day 9 - Limosa smiling in Grenada, IRC Fleet Hotting Up
by Louay Habib / RORC 16 Jan 06:31 NZDT
15 January 2024
Smiles all round on board MOD70 Limosa/The Famous Project after completing the RORC Transatlantic Race © Arthur Daniel / RORC
Alexia Barrier's MOD70 Limosa - The Famous Project (FRA) crossed the finish line of the RORC Transatlantic Race outside Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina Grenada in an elapsed time of 7 Days 22 Hours 28 Mins and 06 Secs.
Limosa was the third boat to finish the race and Alexia Barrier becomes the first MOD70 female skipper to complete the 3,000 mile race.
"A really super good experience, great training and we learnt a lot. I know that we're going to get much better and stronger for the next race," commented Alexia Barrier. "Next for us will be the RORC Caribbean 600, a really different game as it's a shorter race and much more technical. We thought a lot about the '600 during the RORC Transatlantic Race, and we know what we need to work on."
"Every Atlantic crossing is different and for this one the tradewinds weren't established, so it was really tricky navigation," commented Limosa co-skipper Dee Caffari. "For our team this was about building the communication, building the confidence and the experience. We had a whole range of downwind conditions, and we could actually see the building blocks coming together within our team that is peppered with knowledge."
Leopard prowls 1,000 miles to go - IRC Showdown for Warrior Won & Cocody
The RORC Transatlantic Race has been on for almost exactly a week and analysis of the overall win under IRC creates fascinating reading, with Warrior Won (USA) and Cocody (FRA) the favourites to lift the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy. Farr 100 Leopard 3 is on course to win the IMA Transatlantic Trophy for Monohull Line Honours
IRC Ranking - 15 January 1200 UTC: Monohull Line Honours & IRC SZ - Leopard 3 (MON). IRC Overall & IRC Zero - Warrior Won (USA), IRC One - Cocody (FRA), and IRC Two Handed Tigris (GBR). Track the fleet and check out the IRC Rankings here: rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking
Since the start of the race outside Marina Lanzarote three teams have led the fleet overall after IRC time correction. Farr 100 Leopard 3 (MON) leads the monohull fleet on the water with under 1,000 nautical miles to the finish at Camper & Nicholson Port Louis Marina in Grenada. Leopard's skipper Chris Sherlock contacted the race team from deep in the Atlantic Ocean, explaining about the conditions and their chances of an overall win under IRC.
After IRC time correction the race leader is Chris Sheehan's PAC52 Warrior Won (USA), approximately 200 miles behind Leopard. The early race leader overall under IRC was Richard Fromentin's JPK 1180 Cocody (FRA), which is now ranked second overall, 1,700 miles from Grenada. After seven days of racing, Warrior Won and Cocody are both in the running to lift the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy.
Cocody is the furthest boat to the north; the JPK 1180 is highly manoeuvrable and the experienced team from Lorient, France will be using every shift to work south and stay in the pressure. The good news for Cocody is that the calm area of wind to the south of their position is expected to disappear and be replaced by strong tradewinds to slingshot Cocody towards Grenada. Warrior Won has raced a remarkable race so far; hanging onto the coat tails of Leopard almost twice their length is nothing short of admirable. However, Warrior Won's biggest threat to the overall win is Cocody. Tactically there is no way to influence the performance of Cocody hundreds of miles from their position. All Warrior Won can do is put their foot to the floor as skipper Chris Sheehan commented by satellite:
A number of teams in the RORC Transatlantic Race are sending pack 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 minisite.
The RORC Transatlantic Race is part of the RORC Season's Points Championship, the world's largest offshore racing series. www.rorctransatlantic.rorc.org
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