“I am super happy it was a challenging regatta. With such strong opponents and such similar boats you know that if you make a mistake you pay for it all, we made one at the start, overestimating the thermal around Lanzarote, but then we didn’t make any more mistakes”.
Two extra tonnes of water on board, taken on board following damage to the drift compartments, were not enough to stop the breathtaking race of the Maserati Multi70, which crossed the Atlantic at averages of 22 knots, with peaks of 37, and at 19.45 UTC on Friday January 13th crossed the finish line of the RORC Transatlantic Race with a time of 5 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 26 seconds.
Maserati Multi70 is racing towards the finish line with tons of water on board, that the crew must keep under control constantly. “For the heavy loads, the jennaker loop has broken, and for now is on the deck. Fortunately, we are sailing well with the foresail. Oliver has already prepared a new loop, if the wind goes down we’ll send him to the masthead to replace the piece and put the jennaker back. I keep telling the crew to go slow, because the boat weighs 2/3 tons more and all the loads are much higher, but my guys don’t listen to me, they are pumped and they keep going a cannamorta!”
According the last positions received, at 16 UTC, Maserati Multi70 is still in the lead of the MOD70s fleet. The Italian trimaran has 635 miles ahead to reach the finish line. Soldini: “Everything is going well, we are getting close to the moment of the gybe that will put our bow towards Grenada, or almost there. We are expecting the wind to turn north east and to get gradually lighter. We will see how Maserati Multi70 does with 10 knots of wind and the belly full of water. Aboard the morale is high and we are all focused”
Water on board and problems with the centerboard on Maserati Multi70: “During the night last night, while jumping over the waves, the stopper of the drift puller exploded. The daggerboard popped out of its seat and fell back out of the guides, breaking all the backstays”.
At 20 UTC, Maserati Multi70 leads the fleet of trimarans and is sailing at 29 knots towards south west, with few dozens miles of advantage over the competitors.
Maserati Multi70 continues her course towards the Caribbeans: at 12 UTC the Italian trimaran has covered more than half of the course and is still in the lead, chased by the competitors around 50 miles away.
“Those of the second night after the start were intense hours, with crazy winds and speeds,” reports Giovanni Soldini from aboard, “We touched peaks of 37 knots with waves of two to three metres. We are where we wanted to be, in control of our opponents, the road is long but we are not giving up.”
The three competing trimarans are engaged in a fierce match in the trade winds since this morning: Maserati Multi70 at 20 UTC is in the lead and sails at 19.8 knots with around 10 miles of advantage over her competitors. Snowflake follows at 18.5 knots and Zoulou at 27.7 knots.
