RORC Transatlantic Race - Day 11: My Song set the bar, Kuka3 count the minutes

Pier Luigi Loro Piana's Supermaxi My Song has not only set a new monohull race record for the RORC Transatlantic Race, but also the benchmark for the remaining boats to beat racing under the IRC Rating Rule. The best corrected time will win the race outright and lift the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy.

Franco Niggeler's Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka3, skippered by Roberto 'Chuny' Bermudez de Castro was 287 miles from the finish at 1200 UTC on 5 December. Kuka3 was showing an impressive turn of speed on the YB Tracker, averaging over 14 knots, and presumably surfing down Atlantic rollers at some pace. Kuka3 must cross the finish line by 18:58:08 UTC tomorrow (06 December). At their current pace, Kuka3 is expected to be well inside the required time.

Trevor Middleton's British Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep, skippered by Jake Carter is having a tremendous race. The smallest yacht in the RORC Transatlantic Race had over 1,000 miles to go, but is in with a fighting chance of winning the race overall. Arto Linnervuo's Finnish Xp-44 Xtra Staerk was also approaching the '1,000-mile barrier', just eight miles behind Black Sheep. Benedikt Clauberg's Swiss First 47.7 Kali, skippered by Corinne Wirth is on course to complete the race in 18 days or less, which is fast-going for the all-amateur crew.

In the Class40 Division, Catherine Pourre's French-flagged Eärendil had a 300 mile lead, and was 706 miles from the finish. "We are on direct route for Grenada. Since yesterday, we have encountered a lot of weed - les sargasses. They are everywhere; a little bit more year after year it seems! We already had to make a reverse manoeuvre to free the keel of them and we will have to make it again soon. Our ETA is now Dec 07 at 2200 UTC. We currently have more clouds and gusts, with an average wind speed of 24 knots, but gusts up to 29 knots. We run with two reefs and the mainsail and have kept our little spinnaker flying (the A5)," reports Catherine Pourre.

Henrik Bergesen's Norwegian Class40 Hydra, skippered by Tristan Kinloch has shown great pace after their earlier pit stop, to catch up with Stephane Bry's French-Finnish team racing Sirius.

Quick Links:

• Results here: rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/results/2018-results.html
• Race Tracker: rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking/2018-fleet-tracking.html
  
• Race Minisite: rorctransatlantic.rorc.org