Caymanian sailor’s boat in record-breaking trans-Atlantic win

17 January 2022

Caymanian Dom Davies and 21 other crew members aboard a 100-foot yacht called Maxi Comanche set a new race record when they won the monohull division of the 2022 Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Transatlantic Race this weekend.

Peter Cunningham, on his trimaran PowerPlay, placed second in the multihull race.

Another Cayman sailor, Peter Cunningham, was also on the prize podium. Operating his own 70-foot trimaran called PowerPlay, he placed second in the multihull line, finishing behind Giovanni Soldini’s Multi70 Maserati from Italy on Saturday.

“It was a great race,” Cunningham told the Cayman Compass. “We executed very well with a great set of drivers, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Giles Scott. We had a great reception of rum and burgers on the dock. There are a lot of boats still out there, yet to finish while we are safely home.”

Davies, 26, son of Cayman’s 1996 Summer Olympian Alun Davies, and the team, after setting off from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic in a record 7 days, 22 hours, 1 minute and 4 seconds, reaching the finish line in Grenada, and claiming the Monohull Line Honours trophy.

“It was a great sail on a fantastic boat,” Davies told the Compass. “Our main concern was to keep the boat in one piece while sailing fast and letting her do her thing. We knew the record was within our reach if we had decent breeze which we did and as a result we managed to beat the record convincingly. Its a good feeling.”

They shattered the previous race record by more than two days when they reached the Camper and Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada on Sunday, 16 Jan.

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Comanche crew celebrate setting a new race record in the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race. – Photo: Arthur Daniel/RORC

“Comanche is an absolute weapon in the open ocean,” the boat’s skipper Mitch Booth said in a report on the Royal Ocean Racing Club website.

The Comanche, with its distinctive CAY 007 sail, was one of 29 monohull and multihull boats from Cayman, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States that took part in the 3,000 nautical mile race. On Monday, 21 boats were still crossing the Atlantic.

Booth praised “newcomers”, like Davies, and the more experienced sailors who contributed to the victory.

“We are not in set roles; everyone is trimming and on the helm. We are mixing it up, having a great time. It’s been really fun sailing together. Setting Atlantic records is iconic and very special,” he said.

Comanche now holds records for both easterly and westerly routes, including races such as the Monohull West-East Transatlantic, the Rolex Fastnet Race, the RORC Caribbean 600, the Transpac, Rolex Middle Sea Race and now the RORC Transatlantic Race.

Following its success at the RORC Transatlantic Race, the Comanche was awarded the coveted vintage silver IMA Trophy from Andrew McIrvine, secretary general of the International Maxi Association.