Frank Slootman’s Next Adventure: The RORC Transatlantic Race

West Coast racer Frank Slootman, who won the 2017 Transpac with his Pac 52 Invisible Hand, set off on a new adventure this past weekend, racing his MOD70 Snowflake in the 3,000-mile RORC Transatlantic Race. The race departed Marina Lanzarote in the Canaries on Sunday, January 8, and will finish in Port Louis, Grenada.

Three of this year’s multihull alumni are turbocharged MOD70s capable of beating the multihull race record set by Lloyd Thornburg in 2015 on Phaedo3, with a time of 5 days 22 hrs 46 mins 03 secs.

Snowflake will be competing against Giovanni Soldini’s Multi70 Maserati (ITA), which is entered for the fourth time and is the reigning multihull race champion, having taken line honors in a photo finish last year.

MOD70 Zoulou (FRA), formerly Peter Cunningham’s PowerPlay, is being sailed by Erik Maris with a stellar crew, including highly experienced MOD70 driver Ned Collier Wakefield and the enigmatic Loïck Peyron.

Frank Slootman’s American MOD70 Snowflake is skippered by US-based Kiwi Gavin Brady. Snowflake was formerly race-record holder Phaedo3, and record-holding skipper Brian Thompson is back on board for this year’s race.

If you’re like us, it’s fun to check into these global ocean racers on the fleet trackers. Currently, Snowflake and the two other MOD70s are sailing over 400 miles per day and are less than 10 miles apart. You can follow the action here.