RORC Transatlantic Race - Apollo 7 touch down

by Louay Habib on 16 Dec 2014 In the RORC Transatlantic Race Nigel Passmore's British J/133, Apollo 7, crossed the finish line off Quarantine Point, Grenada at 18:45:15 UTC on Monday 15th December 2014 with an elapsed time of 15 days, 08 hours, 45 minutes and 15 seconds.

After time correction, Apollo 7 is leading IRC Two. Nigel's team included three close friends from his home town of Plymouth, Devon: Steve Wassell, James Slater and Mark Davies. Also on board were two offshore specialists: Dan Gohl, a past Class40 world champion and Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Record holder as well as Boat Captain, Brett Aarons, who has won class in the Rolex Fastnet Race with Nigel Passmore in another yacht.

Nigel Passmore spoke dockside in Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina about the race and why he decided to take part:

'This morning the sun came up and I thought about home where it would be cold and miserable, and there I was at the wheel, flying along under spinnaker, in just a pair of shorts, thinking this is just heaven, and 10 of the 15 days have been just like that.

'At the beginning of this race, we went through the hard bit; getting out of the Canaries was tough work, fully oil-skinned up and I was thinking, what is this all about? We had a blustery period mid-Atlantic and I remember one night at the wheel in well over 30 knots of wind. It was pitch black with torrential train and difficult to read the waves, but we were racing and doing 16 knots into the abyss. We didn't take the kite down or put another reef in, we kept pushing hard and the challenge of a race is that on top of seamanship, you have the tactical consideration of beating other boats. You know you have to keep driving on if you are going to succeed.

'This is something I have wanted to do for 20 years or more and to do it, you have got to get yourself in the right frame of mind. Two years ago, something happened to an old friend of mine and I thought I had to do it now. I had my 50th birthday recently and I thought, come on, you have to start doing a few of these things.

'I have always liked to sail with good friends and I don't like to single anyone out, but I have to give a big hand to Brett (Aarons). He has been fabulous. He has looked after us totally and been an absolute rock for the whole campaign.'

Three yachts are still racing in the RORC Transatlantic Race. On 16 December at 1000 UTC, Frank Lang's French X-40, Optim'X was 118 miles from the finish and like three others before it, Optim'X had chosen a route north of Barbados. At their current speed, Optim'X would finish the race at around 0500 UTC 17 December.

Yves and Isabelle Haudiquet's French Pogo 40, Bingo is 211 miles from the finish and the crew of four is estimated to finish the race at 1700 UTC 17 December. Like several other competitors, Bingo has been affected by seaweed catching on their rudder, as reported in their blog: 'We are slowed down by a tremendous area of weeds and have to dive several times a day. We have had a very poor day's run, but we keep our good mood.'

Denis Villotte's French JNP 12, Sérénade has increased her speed to the finish having covered 147 miles in the last 24 hours. Sérénade, with a crew of just three, has 396 miles to go and is expected to arrive before the RORC Transatlantic Race Prize Giving on the 20th December.

Race fans may have noticed that Jean-Paul Riviere's French Finot 100, Nomad IV has now left the Canary Islands. It is understood that the French flyer will be heading straight to Antigua to take part in the seventh edition of the RORC Caribbean 600. Meanwhile in Grenada, crews are enjoying the delights of the island, including scuba diving the beautiful reefs and taking island tours of the stunning interior famous for its rainforest with secluded waterfall locations.

The inaugural RORC Transatlantic Race, in association with the International Maxi Association (IMA), started on Sunday 30 November 1000 UTC from Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, Canary Islands bound for Grenada, West Indies, 2,995 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

Results

Sail No.		Yacht	Type	Class	TCC	Owner	Sailed By
GBR	23	Lupa Of London	Baltic 78	CK	1.426	Jeremy Pilkington
		Class Total: 1
MLT	14742	Nomad IV (RETIRED)	Finot 100	Z	1.713	FC CUBE LTD	Jean-Paul Riviere
MLT	7777	Windfall	Southern Wind 94	Z	1.516	WF Services Ltd	Fabrizio Oddone
GBR	3671	Spirit of Adventure	Volvo 60	Z	1.407	Derek Hatfield
		Class Total: 3
USA	118	Oakcliff Racing	Class40	1	1.301	Hobie Ponting
FRA	26	Sensation Class 40	Class40	1	1.251	Marc Lepesqueux
GBR	68007	Yacana	Swan 68	1	1.208	Aref Lahham
FRA	37573	Bingo	Pogo 40	1	1.178	Yves Haudiquet
		Class Total: 4
GBR	133	Apollo 7	J/133	2	1.092	Nigel Passmore
FRA	35390	Optim'X	X 40	2	1.066	Frank Lang
		Class Total: 2
FRA	36541	Sérénade	JNP 12 Biquille	3	1.010	Denis Villotte
		Class Total: 1
		Total: 11