Sailing - 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race - Arrecife, Lanzarote, Spain - January 9, 2026 Skipper Antoine Magre and crew aboard scow-bowed Palanad 4 ahead of the Lanzarote to Antigua 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race. Palanad 4 went on to win the overall race. REUTERS/Ossian Shine
Jan 22 (Reuters) - A French father and son have turned a radical Mach 50 into a transatlantic triumph, claiming overall victory at the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race in what owner Olivier Magre called "a fantastic dream".
Palanad 4, skippered by Antoine Magre with his father Olivier aboard as crew, secured the IRC overall trophy on Thursday after earlier completing the gruelling 3,000-mile race from Lanzarote to Antigua in 8 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes and 50 seconds.
The Royal Ocean Racing Club confirmed no remaining competitors at sea could beat their corrected time under the handicapping system in use.
The victory marks a stunning validation for the radical scow bow canting keel design, delivering overall victory in only its second offshore race following a debut at the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race.
"For me, as a father, this is a fantastic dream," said owner Olivier Magre. "To win the RORC Transatlantic Race with my son is the greatest result I could imagine in sailing. I am incredibly proud of Antoine and what he has achieved."
The family dynamic proved seamless at sea, with Olivier embracing his dual role.
"At every moment I am the father," he smiled. "I tell Antoine to be careful, to look after himself. But on the boat, he is the boss. He makes the decisions, and the crew follows him. For me, it was easy to be a crew member. I prepared food, I helped where I could. The mix was fantastic."
For skipper Antoine Magre, the result opens doors to elite competition.
"This race is a very strong first proof of concept," he said. "We believed in the potential of the scow bow in IRC, but it had to be proven in real offshore conditions. Winning overall here really sets the bar for what comes next."
The crew's meticulous preparation proved decisive after limited training time before their Fastnet debut. "The Fastnet was only our third time sailing the boat," Antoine explained.
"We had almost no preparation. For this race, we had the whole autumn to train and refine everything. The difference was enormous."
INNOVATIVE DESIGN
With Palanad 4 now safely in Antigua, the team has already set their sights on the RORC Caribbean 600 next month, where they'll face off against Carkeek 50s, TP52s and Volvo 70s in what promises to be a fascinating test of their innovative design against sailing's established speed machines.
Last week Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo blasted from Lanzarote to Antigua in under five days to seize Multihull Line Honours and rewrite the record books at the race. The American trimaran reached English Harbour in four days, 23 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds.
Days later, the foil-assisted Baltic 111 Raven, skippered by Damien Durchon, stormed into English Harbour at speeds touching 30 knots to claim monohull line honours and set a new race record in that class, completing the crossing in six days and 22 hours.
This edition of the race was marked by tragedy when a crew member on the German yacht Walross 4 was knocked unconscious mid-Atlantic and later died.
First staged in its modern form in 2014, the RORC Transatlantic Race has swiftly established itself as one of offshore sailing's premier blue-water contests.
Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club alongside partners including the International Maxi Association and the Yacht Club de France, the biennial event is typically held each January.
The race draws an unusually broad and competitive field, from cutting-edge multihulls and grand-prix monohulls to powerful IRC racers and Corinthian teams.
Its defining strength lies in blending sailing's elite — Olympic medallists, America's Cup sailors and round-the-world veterans — with ambitious amateurs, all tested by sustained trade-wind conditions where preparation, seamanship and tactical judgement count as much as outright speed.
