2018 RORC Transatlantic Race: Class40 Eärendil celebrate in Grenada
by Louay Habib / RORC 8 Dec 2018 10:44 PST
8 December 2018
Class40 Line Honours for the 2018 RORC Transatlantic Race - Catherine Pourre's French Class40 Eärendil makes her way to the dock at C&N Port Louis Marina, Grenada © RORC / Arthur Daniel
Catherine Pourre's Class40 Eärendil finished the 2018 RORC Transatlantic Race on Saturday 08 December at 04:10:18 taking Class40 Line Honours for the 3,000 mile race from Calero Marinas Marina Lanzarote to Camper and Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada.
After completing the race, Catherine and crew members Pietro Luciana and Gery Atkins received a warm welcome from RORC Race Officer Steve Cole, and Marina Manager Charlotte Bonin greeted the team with ice cold beers. Nikoyan Roberts presented Eärendil with a basket of Grenadian goods, including rum and chocolates, courtesy of the Grenada Tourism Authority.
There was also a surprise welcome on the dock from friends Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron - who was fresh from her Route du Rhum adventures with Class40 Campagne de France. In the 2016 race, Campagne de France had won class ahead of Eärendil, but this year it was Catherine Pourre's turn to celebrate finishing the race in pole position for the Class40 Division in a time that was over three days quicker than 2016.
"The conditions this year were much easier than in 2016 because the wind was much more stable and we had very few squalls," commented Pourre. "We had some good wind to test the modifications to Eärendil. Whilst we had problems with the new rudder system and also electronic issues, the boat is faster, which was our main goal. Racing with Gery and Luciana was superb; they are both easy-going characters, but they know how to push a boat hard. We saw 20-25 knots of wind for long periods, so we were really flying, but with our main competition Hydra falling behind after their pit-stop, we could be a little more conservative. It was a real shame that Hydra had to stop for a while in Cape Verde as we were having so much fun."
Henrik Bergesen's Norwegian Class40 Hydra, skippered by Tristan Kinloch was approximately 380 miles from the finish as Eärendil crossed the finish line and Stephane Bry's Sirius had over 500n miles to go.