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The overall winner of the RORC Transatlantic Race is decided

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Swiss crew Kuka 3 was declared the overall winner of the RORC Transatlantic Race. The team finished in Grenada on December 6 with actual time of 12 days, 5 hours, 34 minutes and 35 seconds. After correction, their result was 16 days, 20 hours, 15 minutes and 17 seconds. The team also took first place in the IRC echelon.

The Swiss certainly deserved their victory. Their captain wasFrancoNiggeler Franco Niggeler crossed the Atlantic for the first time , and during the crossing and during the crossing of the Atlantic, in addition to technical faults on board a small fire.

« The pit stop in Cape Verde was like a Formula 1 race! Very quick: four hours to replace the batteries and some cables. With five days before the finish, we had a fire on board, which we handled very well. We went out on deck and used a suitable fire extinguisher. Anyway, we were out of communication for a few days and it was a really serious test for us»," said skipper Roberto "Chuny" Bermúdez de Castro ( Roberto Chuny Bermúdez de Castro), the crew.

According to Franco Niggeler, it was the leadership of the skipper that led the team to success.

« The Kuka crew was fantastic. We had an amazing skipper, Chani, who has made us a real team. We are growing under his leadership. When things weren't right, we just struggled and tried harder. That's how that's how problems are solved»," Niggeler said.


The British Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep crew of the RORC Transatlantic Race, who finished the morning of December 11, completed the list of race winners and runners-up. The smallest boat in the fleet, competing in the IRC echelon, was going so fast for so long that, theoretically, after adjusting her time, she could overtake Kuka 3. However, in the end the team failed to do so, and «Black Sheep» remained second.

They covered the way fromthe Canary Islands in 16 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes and 7 seconds. After the correction the time was 17 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes and 16 seconds - almosta day more than the winners.

The largest yacht in the racing fleet, Italy's Baltic 130 My Song, which finished December 4 andset the regatta speed record for monohulls, is now only third in the IRC rankings.

Although her actual time was 10 days and 5 hours, after correction the results table shows 18 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds. That's 13 hours more than Black Sheep.

In Class 40, with only three crews, the Norwegian Hydra crew made a pit stop in Cape Verde and managed to snatch silver medal from the French Sirius. First-placed French crew Eärendil finished on the night of December 8-9 after 13 days, 16 hours, 10 minutes and 18 seconds in transit. Hydra arrived in Grenada nearly two days later with 15 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes and 23 seconds, while Sirius arrived another day later (their time was 16 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes and 26 seconds).

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