Two MOD70s spent nearly five days racing each other across the North Atlantic, separated at the finish by barely two and a half hours. Over a crossing of more than 2,700 miles, that margin tells you almost everything about how this contest played out.
Jason Carroll's Argo crossed the finish line off English Harbour, Antigua, on 16 January 2026, taking multihull line honours and setting a new race record of 4 days, 23 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds. Erik Maris' Zoulou completed the same passage just two hours and 32 minutes later.
From the moment the fleet cleared Lanzarote, Argo and Zoulou pulled away from everything else and made the crossing their own private contest. The two MOD70s traded small gains across hundreds of miles, neither able to open a gap large enough to relax, neither dropping away enough to lose contact. Gains were small, losses just as quick.
*Built before the start*
Argo's result owed as much to preparation in the Canaries as it did to anything that happened on the water. Skipper Chad Corning described a thorough pre-race strip-down. "Everything mechanical came off the boat," he said. "We scanned it, serviced it, or replaced it. Out there, you cannot second guess the gear."
That groundwork proved its worth mid-crossing, when vibration was felt through the port rudder. With daylight running out, Alister Richardson went over the stern to investigate and carry out a repair.
"If that rudder had gone, that was the race," Corning said. "There was no option but to fix it."
*Fast days, harder nights*
Once Argo and Zoulou settled into the trade winds, the pace lifted sharply. Daytime runs sat comfortably above 30 knots, while nights brought a different kind of pressure. Helming stints were cut to 45 minutes. Drivers came off cold, soaked, and exhausted. Spray burned eyes. Waves hit at angles that threatened to knock the boat sideways. There were moments when a crew member chose not to take the wheel, and those calls were respected without question.
Sam Goodchild, drawing on his experience aboard the larger Ultim trimarans, put the challenge plainly. "The MOD70 lets you get closer to the edge," he said. "That also means you fall off it quicker."
*No regrets for Zoulou*
Erik Maris finished second after a close and demanding race and spoke without frustration. "We were close almost the whole way," he said. "Sometimes you win. Sometimes you do not. Without competition like that, the race would mean nothing."
With both multihulls now in Antigua, attention moves to the monohull fleet, where Baltic 111 Raven is next expected to finish.
