Image: © PredictWind

The Royal Ocean Racing Club, after consulting with various meteorological experts, has amended the course for the 2024 RORC Transatlantic Race. The requirement to leave the Canary Islands to port has been removed. Race Director Steve Cole commented: “Now we are only 48 hrs away from the start of the race, it has become apparent that the established course will send the very diverse fleet into two unusually deep depressions with the possibilities of winds exceeding 40 knots and a potential wave height of eight metres. This decision allows boats to still take that route if they wish but opens an option for boats to head immediately South after the first mark if they choose to do so.”

Lisa McDonald from PredictWind foretells a calm before the storm for the race start at 1200 UTC 07 January: “Looking ahead to Sunday’s sunny start from Lanzarote; most of the models are in agreement that the wind will generally be out of the NNE quadrant and anywhere from 6 - 10 knots in the morning, with acceleration to 12 -14 knots in the afternoon and going into the early evening. There will be a significant wind-shadow effect to the south of the island with very light and variable wind at times.

“The faster boats may be able to get away before the weather GRIBs show that wind will decrease considerably on Monday, and large areas of light and variable winds will start to appear to the west due to the unstable air mass and series of low pressure systems to the north. The fleet can look forward to navigating a large and variable area of light winds going into the start of the week before the next weather front system arrives.”