On Sunday, January 11, 2026, the 12th RORC Transatlantic Race fired off from Marina Lanzarote (Arrecife) on its ~3,000 nm run to Antigua—a winter-season Atlantic test that’s equal parts speed contest, seamanship exam, and Caribbean-season curtain-raiser.
A fleet built for contrasts
This year’s lineup is a floating argument that “transatlantic racing” can mean almost anything. At one extreme are the MOD70 trimarans Argo and Zoulou, designed to turn the tradewinds into a high-20s-knot conveyor belt; at the other are smaller doublehanders and “real life” offshore programs where simply managing sleep, gear, and morale is half the race.
Reuters captured the mood in Lanzarote: “The trade winds look well established”, said race officer Chris Jackson, adding he was “hopeful for a good fast race for the fleet.” That forecast matters because the early tactical question is always the same: how quickly can teams escape the Canaries’ lighter, trickier airflow and lock into the steadier easterlies that make the Atlantic feel like a long downwind runway. Jackson also flagged that early transition—expecting a southerly exit before the trades “re-establish” into a classic crossing.
11 January, 2026
© SAILING ENERGY
Pre-race storylines: rivalry, refinement, and reality
Argo vs. Zoulou is the headline: two near-peer MOD70s, two programs that know exactly what the other can do, and a format that turns small routing choices into hours gained or lost at 25+ knots. As Chad Corning put it: “All the little details will make the difference.”
On the monohull side, the sleek new-school speed narrative is led by Baltic 111 Raven, with navigator Will Oxley describing the routing mindset bluntly: “We actively route to avoid rough water.” But the corrected-time fight is deeper than any single maxi: scow-bow Palanad 4, the Carkeek 45 Ino Noir, Class40 Sensation, plus a spread of offshore veterans and ambitious teams give IRC the “one bad call can ruin your week” flavor that makes transocean racing addictive.
And then there’s the human-scale heartbeat: Finland’s small, doublehanded Stimmy (Sun Fast 3300) aiming for the pure version of the mission—“enjoy the sailing and finish safely,” as Ari Huusela said.
The start: clean, fast, and instantly strategic
RORC called it a “flawless” departure in near-ideal conditions—northeasterly ~12 knots building into the mid-teens and clear skies—as the fleet rounded the Puerto Calero mark and fanned south into open-ocean decision-making.
Early on the water, Palanad 4 was first across the monohull line, while Raven looked lively in the opening exchanges, and Ino Noir emerged as the early IRC corrected-time leader. In multihulls, the match race began immediately: Argo executed a start designed not to get pinned by Zoulou, then launched down the coast—“reaching fast south,” in offshore legend Brian Thompson’s words from Argo’s nav station.
Behind the spectacle, the race machine clicked into its safety rhythm. Jackson emphasized the monitoring posture once boats leave sight of land: “the race is monitored 24 hours a day.”
Day 1: the MOD70s already in their own zip code
After roughly the first 24 hours, the tracker showed what everyone expected: the MOD70s stretching their legs and pressing southwest into the stronger breeze band.
At 12:00 UTC on Jan 12, Zoulou was showing 28.5 knots with ~2,380 nm to go, while Argo was close by at 26.1 knots with ~2,358 nm to go—a separation that still leaves plenty of room for a proper drag race as the trades stabilize.
The monohull pack, meanwhile, was still in the “escape velocity” phase near the Canaries, stacked between roughly 26–23°N and 15–16°W on the tracker snapshot—exactly the zone where crews work hardest for the least glamorous gains: staying in pressure, choosing the right lane around islands and ridges, and setting up the angle that turns tomorrow into true tradewind mode.
Over the coming days, watch for three things:
1. whether the leaders commit to a more direct, rhumb-line-ish track or dive a touch south for steadier pressure,
2. how tight Argo–Zoulou stays once they’re fully powered,
3. which IRC contenders best time the transition from “Canaries chess” to “Atlantic conveyor belt.”
