Dec 1 (Reuters) - With less than 50 days until the start gun, a quartet of cutting-edge offshore racers are preparing to battle across 3,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean in what promises to be one of the most technically diverse Royal Ocean Racing Club transatlantic fields in years.
Nineteen boats have entered the race from Marina Lanzarote to Antigua starting on Jan. 11, but four stand out as serious contenders for overall honours: Yves Grosjean's Neo 430 NeoJivaro, James Neville's Carkeek 45 Ino Noir, Xavier & Alexandre Bellouard's Lift 45 Maxitude, and Antoine Magre's Manuard 50 Palanad 4.
The boats represent a fascinating mix of design philosophies and personal motivations.
Grosjean, finally making his debut after a skiing accident sidelined him from the 2025 edition, has focused obsessively on crew endurance. "Our preparation has revolved around the simple truth that human endurance is as important as boat speed across the Atlantic Ocean," the Frenchman said.
"Recuperation and nutrition are key, right down to choosing the right mattress for the sleeping racks."
Neville returns with Ino Noir, the boat that finished third overall last time, now refined after a season of reliability challenges.
The Briton's philosophy is refreshingly pragmatic: "The slowest speed is actually more important than the fastest. It's about managing the boat, managing the chafe, and looking after the sails. It's about consistency."
The French father-and-son Bellouard team brings perhaps the most radical design in Marc Lombard's Lift 45 Maxitude, featuring a broad scow bow that Xavier believes represents the future. "We know people will be watching us closely, the boat surprised a lot of people during the Rolex Fastnet," he grins.
'AS FAST AS POSSIBLE'
Meanwhile, Magre's Palanad 4 carries serious pedigree - its predecessor won the 2021 race and set the International Rating Certificate record. "We want to go as fast as possible," the Frenchman says simply.
For Magre, a win would be more than a trophy - it would be validation of a design philosophy. “A recognition that this new generation of scow-influenced 50-footers represents a breakthrough in performance sailing.”
Scow-influenced boats differ by carrying a much fuller, wider bow that increases stability and downwind speed compared with traditional pointed-bow designs.
Despite their technical differences, all four skippers agree on one crucial point. As Neville puts it: "The critical speed is your slowest speed."
In a race where average speed trumps spectacular bursts, the winner will be decided not on the crests of waves, but in the doldrums of becalmed seas and the grinding test of human endurance.
Having marked its centenary in 2025, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has grown from a small organisation into a global force, drawing thousands of sailors to its offshore races and helping shape modern yachting.
Founded in 1925, the RORC built its reputation on the biennial Fastnet Race and the Admiral's Cup, expanding beyond its Cowes base to run events across the Atlantic and Caribbean.
It now stages what it calls the world’s largest offshore racing series, the RORC Season’s Points Championship, which can attract more than 7,000 sailors in a Rolex Fastnet year, along with inshore regattas in the Solent.
RORC has broadened its reach through partnerships with other yacht clubs, developing races such as the RORC Caribbean 600 (launched in 2009) and the RORC Transatlantic Race (created in 2014 and finishing in Antigua from 2026).
It is also a leader in yacht rating, co-developing the IRC with France’s UNCL, now the Yacht Club de France. Recognised by World Sailing, IRC is one of the sport’s most widely used handicap systems, jointly administered by RORC in Lymington and the YCF in Paris.
(Reporting and writing by Ossian Shine; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
