The RORC Transatlantic Race has moved into open ocean. Every boat in the fleet has cleared the Canary Islands, and crews have committed fully to their chosen lanes for the long westbound run to Antigua.
The opening days saw significant compression along the African coast, prompting crews to push offshore early in search of more stable pressure. By day three, the tactical jostling for position at the exit had given way to something simpler and more demanding: holding speed across the Atlantic for as long as it takes.
Once the land effects dropped away, the transition settled quickly. Boats have been able to lock into sustained downwind modes without the constant sail changes and course corrections that mark the early stages of the race.
The multihulls have set the tempo from the front. The two MOD70 trimarans, Argo and Zoulou, have been trading the lead back and forth, regularly recording boat speeds in the high twenties and beyond when conditions align. The sailing has been wet and physical, but the relative absence of squalls and unstable pressure gradients has allowed crews to keep pushing without needing to back off to protect equipment or people.
Among the monohulls, Raven has established herself as the benchmark for outright speed. A 550-nautical-mile day speaks to both the boat's pace and the confidence of those sailing her. Rather than simply chasing maximum distance, Raven has favoured a slightly higher mode, giving up a fraction of angle in exchange for better control and foil efficiency. Keeping structural loads manageable, the approach has maintained pressure on the rest of the fleet.
On corrected time under IRC, Palanad 4 remains firmly in contention. She has sailed a careful, measured race so far, avoiding costly errors and staying close to her target numbers throughout.
The broader weather picture has worked in the fleet's favour. A developing low near the Bay of Biscay has compressed the Azores High, opening westward routing options earlier than is typical at this point in the race. The usual wind shadow south of the Canaries has been reduced as a result, allowing boats to fan out across a wider spread of latitude sooner than expected.
The fleet is now stretched along a significant north-to-south axis, with individual routing calls driven more by forecast pressure bands than by any desire to cover nearby competitors. The early positioning decisions are done.
What remains is the race in its truest form. Watches are settled, systems are holding, and the Atlantic is running as expected. From here, the outcome will come down to consistency: keeping speed on through the night, managing crew fatigue carefully, and avoiding the small compounding errors that erode margins over thousands of miles. The boats still in contention as Antigua draws closer will be those that simply did fewer things wrong.
