ARRECIFE, Lanzarote, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Some 21 teams from 19 nations are tinkering, fettling and gearing up in Lanzarote for a high-speed Atlantic adventure when the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race sets sail to Antigua on Sunday, with everything from student crews to superyachts ready to tackle the 3,000-nautical-mile voyage west.
The Royal Ocean Racing Club event, run in partnership with the International Maxi Association and the Yacht Club de France, will see monohulls start at 1230 GMT from the waters off Arrecife, with multihulls following 10 minutes later. The fastest boats are expected to complete the crossing in under seven days, while the smallest yachts may still be racing more than a fortnight after the start.
Multiple trophies await the fleet, with the prestigious RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy awarded to the overall winner on IRC corrected time, the benchmark measure of offshore racing throughout the world.
In addition to overall honours, the IMA Transatlantic Trophy is awarded to the first maxi yacht to finish, and the Multihull Line Honours Trophy goes to the fastest multihull.
At the sharp end of the multihull fleet, a familiar MOD70 trimaran battle is brewing between Argo and Zoulou. "It is a really exhilarating experience to travel that fast across the water, so getting to do that for 3,000 miles across the Atlantic is a thrill the whole time," said Argo's Jason Carroll.
Zoulou's Ned Collier Wakefield expects a tight contest: "If it turns into a downwind drag race, we'll be glued to each other all the way across. The boats are effectively on the same page now, and the latest foils and rudders give huge stability and lift without taking control away."
For monohull line honours, radical offshore design Baltic 111 Raven looks set to lead the charge. "Although Raven has already crossed the Atlantic twice and logged more than 18,000 nautical miles offshore, the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race will mark her first competitive transatlantic campaign," says project manager Klabbe Nylof.
The overall IRC trophy battle remains wide open, with new scow-bow 50-footer Palanad 4 among the contenders. "The goal is simple: go as fast as possible," says skipper Antoine Magre. "It comes down to a focused crew, smart weather calls and fully exploiting the boat's strengths."
Racing for the Superyacht Class Trophy, Be Cool and Linnea Aurora at 128ft and 129ft are the two largest boats in the fleet. At the other end of the spectrum, Ari Huusela and Annika Paasikivi are double-handed on Stimmy -- at 32.7ft the smallest boat in the race -- and represent the pure spirit of adventure: "Our goal is simple: enjoy the sailing and finish safely," Huusela smiled.
Elsewhere in the fleet, family ties and fresh ambition shape the field. Andrew and Sam Hall’s J/125 Jackknife and Xavier and Alexandre Bellouard’s Lift 45 Maxitude reflect experience built over time, while student-heavy teams such as Walross 4 arrive eager to learn.
While the multihulls are expected to set records here for the fastest total time taken to complete the race from start to finish, the attraction of this race goes well beyond the crossing itself.
Antigua provides a natural springboard into a full Caribbean racing programme, hosting both the RORC Nelson’s Cup Series and the RORC Caribbean 600 in February. Crews can roll straight from a 3,000-nautical-mile Atlantic passage into some of the most competitive offshore and inshore racing in the region.
For teams focused on sharpening performance, refining systems and building cohesion, there are few better proving grounds than racing flat-out across the ocean before lining up for a 600-mile Caribbean classic.
(Editing by Toby Davis)
