Six days into the West-East Transatlantic Race, Christian Zugel’s Volvo 70 Tschüss 2, co-skippered by Johnny Mordaunt, is the clear leader for both Monohull Line Honours and the overall IRC win.
Their 24-hour distance run has peaked at 491.5 nautical miles, averaging 20.5 knots. With 3.8 knots of favourable current and sustained speeds of 18–19 knots, they’re pushing hard.
With 1,600nm to gothey could beat the previous boat’s elapsed time. That time — 10 Days, 9 Hours, 1 Minute, and 42 Second — was set in 2019 by Wizard, now racing as Tschüss 2.
Current projections show a finish nearly two days faster. Their main challenge is staying ahead of a cold front expected within 48 hours.
Tschüss 2’s nearest rival, some 300 miles astern, is Oliver Kobale’s VO65 Sisi.
Further back, the rest of the fleet is still battling unstable conditions.
Leading IRC One after time correction is Hanno Ziehm’s Marten 49 Moana, well positioned to reach better pressure ahead of rivals. Their closest contender is Dan Litchfield’s Nielsen 59 Hound.
Leading IRC Two is Tom Bowler’s Morris 46 Escapade II.
Meanwhile, Calamity — the race’s only multihull — is thriving. Skippered by Timo Tavio and Kimmo Nordstrom, the Ocean 50 is the southern most boat in the fleet, making great progress with a mostly Finnish crew.
