Sailors participating in the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race shared their thoughts on the eve of the start during a press conference at Marina Lanzarote on Friday 7 January.
Brian Thompson, tactician for Jason Carroll’s MOD70 Argo, said: “It’s going to be a fantastic competition between four boats for multihull line honours.
“The winner will be the team that manages these powerful boats, especially in the rough conditions, and the one that takes the best route.
“This year the trade winds are not as normal as they should be, so for the record we will have to wait and see.
“It is always exciting to race across the Atlantic; it hasn't got any smaller or any easier!”
Bouwe Bekking, principal helmsman and strategist for Volvo 70 L4 Trifork, said: “If you want to know why Lanzarote is such a great place to start a race across the Atlantic, just look out the window: the temperature is great, the conditions are fantastic, and you need breeze for these races.
“Lanzarote has great facilities, and the people here are real experts in lots of areas. Racing across the Atlantic is becoming more popular, it is an incredible experience, and this race is a great way to start a campaign.”
Ireland will be represented by Justin Slattery among the crew of the record-setting Maxi VPLP, Comanche — whose bowman Willy Altadill and crew Diogo Cayolla spoke their minds.
“Every child dreams of racing on a boat like Comanche and it has brought me responsibility and experience,” Altadill said. “It's not easy to race on Comanche, but it’s amazing to get a chance to race on a boat like this with a world-class crew.”
Cayolla added: “This will be my first Atlantic race on Comanche and I’m really looking forward to it. Comanche is a big powerful boat and it likes the wind. We do have a record in mind and that is going to be our biggest goal for the race.”
Also in attendance for the organisers were Héctor Fernández of the Lanzarote Tourist Board, Yacht Club de France vice president Olivier Pecoux , International Maxi Association secretary general Andrew McIrvine, RORC chief executive Jeremy Wilton and José Juan Calero, managing director of Calero Marinas.
Thirty teams from all over the world will start the eighth edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race on Saturday 8 January from 11am UTC.
The race start will be live-streamed on the Puerto Calero Marinas Facebook page in Spanish with commentary and in English by Vendée Globe star Pip Hare.
