At noon on the 25th November 2017, after a week of boat preparation and much appreciated social activities at Marina Lanzarote in Arrecife, a record 23 yachts started the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race bound for Grenada. Teams from nine different nations took part including: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the United States of America. Ludde Ingvall's Australian Maxi CQS took line honours and was awarded the International Maxi Association (IMA) Transatlantic Trophy. Eric de Turckheim's French Nivelt-Muratet 54 Teasing Machine was the overall winner under IRC, winning the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy.

An unusually light southerly airstream greeted the competitors for the start, but the super-light conditions didn't last for long. A low pressure system to the north and a ridge of high pressure to the south blocked the way to the tradewinds and routed the fleet to the north of the rhumb line. After beating into rough seas for most of the second day, CQS was the first to make the dive south. After passing to the north of Tenerife trying to find a narrow gap through the high pressure ridge, CQS made short work of the transition zone to reach the tradewinds.

The crew of Hatha Maris at the finish of the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race

Lyssandra Barbieri's Dufour 40 finished the RORC Transatlantic Race in an elapsed time of 26 days 7 hours 51 mins 50 secs. The record entry of 23 yachts for the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race have now been accounted for. As with every team in the race, regardless of time of day or night. Hatha Maris was greeted dockside at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, with cold beer and a warm welcome. Hatha Maris is the first all-women crew to complete the race.

“Fantastic, exhausted and elated.” smiled Lyssandra having completed the 3000 nautical mile race. “We did not want one more night watch, we were done. Everybody from the marina is here to greet us, there is beer there is food, we are very lucky people. Tonight everybody wants to eat a rare steak and a lot of salad, and rum with coconut water.”

Berry Aarts's Jeanneau 54 Ds, No Doubt, crossed the finish line of the RORC Transatlantic Race in an elapsed time of 23 days, 21hrs, 31mins, 54secs.

1500 UTC 18 December

RORC Commodore Steven Anderson's Cutter Gemervescence, co-skippered by Jane Anderson, has finished the RORC Transatlantic Race in an elapsed time of 23 days 02 hours 53 mins 18 secs.

1200 UTC 17 December

Richard Palmer's British JPK 10.10 Jangada, racing two handed with Rupert Holmes has finished the RORC Transatlantic Race in an elapsed time of 21 days 17 hours 32 mins 55 secs and is the winner of IRC Two and IRC Two Handed. Whilst yachts are still racing, none can better Jangada's IRC corrected time. Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina gave the triumphant duo a warm welcome, as is customary for every arrival in the RORC Transatlantic Race:

1200 UTC 16 December

Three more teams have completed the RORC Transatlantic Race and are safely moored in Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina. Every yacht is greeted as they arrive with cold beers and a warm smile. French Class40 Sensation, skippered by Kai Weekes and racing in IRC One, finished the race in an elapsed time of 17 days 15 hours 39 mins 10 secs. Chris Stanmore-Major's Canadian Whitbread 60 Challenger was the next to cross the finish line in an elapsed time of 20 days 15 hours 17 mins and 40 secs. “It’s been a long time at sea, but I have to say that the crew are a much better unit and far better sailors than they were at the start in Lanzarote,” commented Chris Stanmore-Major. “We will not be in Grenada for long unfortunately as we want to do a lot of work to the boat for our next race; the RORC Caribbean 600.”

RACE UPDATE:  14 December 2017

Broader View Hamburg secure victory in IRC One

Steve Cole from the RORC Race Office presents skipper, Bjoern Woge of German Andrews 56, Broader View Hamburg with their trophy for winning IRC One in the RORC Transatlantic Race
© RORC/Arthur Daniel

The podium for IRC One is now complete in the RORC Transatlantic Race and is occupied by three German yachts; all skippered and crewed by fathers and sons. There were emotional scenes as the teams arrived at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina after racing 3,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

Andrews 56 Broader View Hamburg, owned by Hamburgische Verein Seefahrt and skippered by Bjoern Woge, has won IRC One in the RORC Transatlantic Race. Broader View Hamburg was the first yacht to complete the race in IRC One in an elapsed time of 17 Days 5 Hours 18 mins 56 secs. Friedrich Boehnert's Xp-50 Lunatix was second and Johann von Eicken's Swan 56 Latona was third.

Eric de Turckheim's French Nivelt-Muratet 54 Teasing Machine was today declared the overall winner of the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race. Whilst a number of the record 23 yacht fleet are still racing, none of them can better Teasing Machine's corrected time under IRC. Teasing Machine is the smallest yacht to win the RORC Transatlantic Trophy, which has been previously won by yachts in the Maxi Class.

From L to R: RORC Chief Executive Eddie Warden Owen and RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine with Teasing Machine's Tony Brochet and Betrand Castelnerac © RORC / Arthur Daniel

"To win the RORC Transatlantic Race is just fantastic," commented Eric de Turckheim. "It is not just a personal achievement to win my first ever Transatlantic Race, because it has been such a massive team effort. Teasing Machine was only taking part in her second offshore race, and to build a team to that performance level within four months has required a huge commitment from everyone, but especially Laurent Pages."

On the 17^th day of the RORC Transatlantic Race five teams completed the 3,000 nautical mile race within a 10 hour period and 11 yachts are still at sea. Monday's finishers included four young German teams and Gerald Bibot's Belgian catamaran Zed 6. Mathias Mueller von Blumencron's Red was the winner of the Class40 Division for the RORC Transatlantic Race.

Red completed the race in an elapsed time of 15 days 17 hours 25 mins 25 secs to take a hard-earned victory from Berthold and Tobias Brinkmann's MarieJo, which was just under nine hours behind. The Class40 lead had changed hands at least three times during the race, but it was Red with a young but very experienced crew that has been together for many years and raced thousands of miles, that took the Class win.

RACE UPDATE: Day 16 1400 UTC 10 December 2017

An emotional arrival into Grenada for Roman Guerra's team on Volvo 70 Monster Project © RORC/Arthur Daniel

Roman Guerra's Volvo 70 Monster Project finished the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race on Sunday 10 December 2017 in an elapsed time of 14 days 21 hrs 39 mins 46 secs. Sixteen yachts are still racing across the Atlantic Ocean and a number of teams will finish the 3,000 nautical mile race over the next 48 hours.

Monster Project safely moored at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina and the team cracked open the cold beers:

"None of this team has raced across the Atlantic before and it all got pretty emotional when we finished. All of us got a bit teary," commented Monster Project skipper, Roman Guerra. "There are so many memorable moments, but racing at over 30 knots of boat speed two nights before the finish, was really special. The crew described it as awesome, scary, wonderful and just unreal. Any serious sailor wants to race across the Atlantic in a Volvo 70 and we are proud to have done it. A big thank you to the RORC for running such a great race."