The ninth edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in collaboration with Calero Marinas, International Maxi Association and Yacht Club de France, will start tomorrow, 8th January 2023 at 14.00 UTC/local time (15.00 p.m. Italian time).
Maserati Multi70 and the 20 other yachts entered in the regatta will set off in the usual order (at 14:00 UTC the start for multihulls, 14:10 UTC for monohulls) from Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, and sail 2995 miles from the Canary Islands to the island of Grenada, in the Eastern Caribbean, across the Atlantic Ocean.
Maserati Multi70 presents itself in flying trim for the direct fight with its two rival multihulls, which have also been optimised: Snowflake (formerly Phaedo3), equipped with a mast two metres taller than its rivals, and Zoulou (formerly Powerplay), which also mounts modified appendages. On board are a concentration of experienced sailors such as Ned Collier Wakefield and Loick Peyron, together in the Zoulou team, and Brian Thompson and Gavin Brady on Snowflake.
For the three MOD70s, the record to be broken is 5 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 03 seconds, set by Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70 Phaedo3 in 2015.
On the eve of the start, the race promises to be quite fast: favourable trade winds, conditions that rule out northerly routes and are ideal for travelling at record pace.
“The weather is classic for once and so the course will be in the trade wind,” explained Giovanni Soldini, “but in the first twelve hours the conditions will be light. We will have to play for it right from the start and it will be crucial to stay focused throughout the competition because this is a race of the highest level: on Zoulou and Snowflake are running sailors that we know very well and for this reason we know that they are unlikely to make mistakes. So let’s get on with it!”
Maserati Multi70 is taking part in the RORC Transatlantic Race for the fourth time, having competed in the 2016 edition; in the 2018 edition, when it crossed the finish line first with a time of 6 days, 18 hours, 54 minutes and 3 seconds; and in the 2022 edition when it won with a real time of 6 days, 18 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.
In the race, on board Maserati Multi70, Giovanni Soldini will be accompanied by 6 professional sailors: Guido Broggi (ITA), Oliver Herrera Perez (ESP), Matteo Soldini (ITA), Francesco Pedol (ITA), Lucas Valenza-Troubat (FRA) and Francesco Malingri (ITA).
For Giovanni Soldini and the entire team of Maserati Multi70, the trans-ocean race marks the beginning of a new season of great sporting events around the world; of important technical challenges such as the fine-tuning of the full electric system; and of ocean protection programmes such as the monitoring of the sea surface thanks to the Ocean Pack, the machine that measures temperature, salinity and CO2 from on board along the trimaran’s routes.
