Third task in the 8th RORC Transatlantic Race: Mast breakage in the middle of the Atlantic: "Black Pearl" retired

The boats in the tracker for the 8th RORC Transatlantic Race are coloured grey when they are out of the race. Since this sixth day at sea, Stefan Jentzsch's "Black Pearl" has also shared this fate. Joining Jentzsch on board affected by the bitter end: Joan Fullana, Michele Gnutti, Marc Lagesse, Luke Molloy, Gabriele Olive, Paul Standbridge, Peter van Niekerk and Matt Whitehead - a very experienced professional crew. After the accident and the crew's report to the race committee on 13 January at 16:32 German time, it was not clear why the rig failed until the evening. However, the report stated: "We are abandoning the race due to the mast breakage. Everyone on board is okay. We are 800 nautical miles west of the Canary Islands and will try to reach them under emergency rig and engine." The Jentzsch team had been fighting for victory in the IRC overall standings before the knockout blow.

Clarification has now also been provided on the demise of the Gunboat 68 "Tosca" with skipper Ken Howery and his co-skipper Alex Thomson. The crew on the almost brand-new boat had to contend with water ingress, which in turn jeopardised the electrical system. Alex Thomson explained after arriving in the Azores harbour of Ponta Delgado that the crew had anticipated problems at this early stage. His comments can be seen here (please click!). Skipper Howery has also commented on his retirement (please click!). With the Swan 58 "Omii", three boats are no longer part of the transatlantic race, in which the multihull leaders are expected to reach their destination on the night of 14 to 15 January.

The final of the three MOD and Multi-70 multihulls could turn into a gripping thriller, because on the evening of the sixth day of racing, "Argo" suddenly had the bow lead with a nautical mile advantage over the previous permanent leader "PowerPlay". Giovanni Soldini's crew on "Maserati" had not yet given in either, was around 35 nautical miles behind the leading duo at the same time and was recently travelling at speeds of over 25 knots despite a cracked port rudder. Chad Corning reported from on board: "We are trying to find a balance between safety and speed." Behind "Maserati", the 100-foot maxi "Comanche" roared towards the finish line as the fastest monohull yacht at a record speed of 14 knots, while smaller boats in the very diverse fleet had not even completed half of the approximately 3,000 nautical mile course.

Mark Emerson's A13 "Phosphorus II" claimed the overall IRC lead on Thursday evening ahead of the Volvo Open 70 "L4 Trifork" under the command of skipper Jens Dolmer. According to the IRC calculation, "Comanche" was in third place ahead of Maximilian Klink's fast Botin 52 Custom "Caro" and the smallest boat in the fleet: the two-handed crew on JPK 10.10 "Jangada" still has almost 2,000 nautical miles to go to the finish, but could be right at the front. It is quite possible that the decision in the battle for overall IRC victory will take much longer than the first finishes suggest.