Champagne on Ice for Nomad IV - Tuesday 8th December 1200 UTC
Nomad IV wave goodbye at the start of the RORC Transatalantic Race - photo RORC/James Mitchell
Nomad IV is expected to take Monohull Line Honours in the RORC Transatlantic Race later today with Zed 6 in full flight coming in from the North and Nunatak celebrate mid-Atlantic with shooting stars and Jelly Babies. For the next few days, steady tradewinds of 15-20 knots are predicted for the yachts at the front of the RORC Transatlantic fleet, giving a fast broad reach to Grenada.
Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada is bracing itself for the arrival of the RORC Transatlantic fleet with a warm welcome and the cold beer on ice. After a fast 10 day crossing, Jean-Paul Riviere's French Finot Conq 100 Nomad IV has just 84 miles to go. Having averaged just under 12 knots for the 3,000 mile race, Nomad IV led the monohull fleet out of the Canary Islands and has never looked like relinquishing their advantage. It will be a sweet victory for the French/Russian team as in last year's inaugural race, the powerful Maxi broke their boom forcing their retirement shortly after the start. It was interesting to see that Nomad IV chose to leave Barbados to port, avoiding a potential wind shadow from the only Caribbean island on the rhumb line. Will the other yachts choose the same route or try to gain miles by cutting the corner?