RORC Encore
Each year I find it difficult to write this particular page. The RORC Caribbean 600 will have finished by the time you read this and so predicting winners is a high-risk exercise! I do have my own feelings based upon the number of years the race has run and the expected wind conditions but this time I am not planning to share… More impor- tant, however, is that each year I also wonder how we will ever match the previous year’s number of entries and when will the race numbers plateau and where will that plateau be. This year entry numbers have been hovering around 80 boats, and it is once again a high-quality fleet with a wide mix of boat styles crewed by sailors ranging from seasoned professionals to gifted amateurs and adventurers.
Fast course, fast boats A record number of 11 Class40s race this year for the Concise Trophy donated by class stalwart Tony Lawson. Most of these boats wintered in the Caribbean after the Route du Rhum and it will be interesting to see how the ‘newcomers’ such as Aymeric Chappellier, runner-up in the Route du Rhum, will compete against those who
two MOD 70s who will be vying for line honours. Local man Shannon Falcone is bringing the DNA F4 foiling catamaran out to play again; he will be hoping for more moderate trades this year… IRC Class Zero has 15 very competitive boats with all eyes likely
to be on Hap Fauth’s latest Maxi72 Bella Mente– the previous Bella was a two-time winner of this race so expectations are not low. Cookson 50s are the only ‘small’ boat to have won the RORC
Caribbean 600 and there are two competing this year, Joseph Mele’s Triple Lindy and Franco Niggeler’s Kuka 3, which was the overall winner of the RORC Transatlantic Race in November. In close contention with these two should be the Ker 46 Lady Mariposa which won the 2019 Montego Bay Race beating the Volvo 70 Wizard in the process. If the trades are as reliable as they usually are then I cannot see
anyone beating a Maxi72 for overall honours. These boats are optimised to the nth degree often with dedicated narrow-range sails designed and built for the expected wind angles of the different legs of the course. Racing with the best professional sailors, plus the finessing that occurs between boats who habitually compete within metres of each other, makes for a package that is very hard for anyone else to match. However, for all the sailors who race
the 600 it’s the teamwork, the adven- ture, the warm sunshine and azure-blue water and sparkling conditions that give this race its justified reputation as one of the best offshore races in the world. The parties are pretty good too.
Anthony Churchill I was sad to hear of the passing of Anthony Churchill, a longtime RORC member (1966) who is credited with starting Seahorsemagazine. Coinciden- tally the same week I heard of Anthony’s passing the November 1970 edition of Seahorse crossed my desk (the British postal system really is that good – ed). It was still a magazine-style newslet-
Class40 president Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron’s fast self-built Nivelt-Mabire design Campagne de France was one of many Class40s to winter in the Caribbean after the Route du Rhum, giving a boost to the class presence in the Caribbean 600. This race transitioned very swiftly from ‘bucket list’ destination to offshore classic. Interesting too to watch the growth in the multihull entry with a racecourse tailormade for fast sailing. Ten multihulls raced this year… including Jason Carroll’s international team on the MOD 70 Argowho had performed miracles to make the start after pitchpoling just a few days earlier during pre-race practice. This time the multihulls matched the IRC Zero fleet for world-class talent, with François Gabart, Jonathan McKee, Brian Thompson, Peter Isler and Morgan Larson all taking part –Olympic gold, Vendée Globe, Jules Verne and Cup winners all (sensibly) leaving the lead on the beach
have raced the course already, like last year’s winner Catherine Pour (Eärendil) and Miranda Merron (Campagne de France). Figaro winner and Vendée Globe competitor Kito de Pavant who finished fifth in the Rhum is another newcomer to this race, along with Luke Berry who finished just behind him in November. The calibre of the Caribbean 600 Class40 division is increasing along with the turnout. Once again there is a strong line-up of multihulls with 11 boats
matching last year’s record fleet which was decimated by the windiest 600 we have had to date. Only four boats finished but a number have returned including Greg Slyngstad in his Bieker 53 Fujin which capsized in the lee of Saba on the first night. This is the third time Slyngstad has entered the race and he has fashioned a strong team including Olympic gold medallist Jonathan McKee and America’s Cup-winning navigator Peter Isler. There are also the
60 SEAHORSE
ter but was already 24 pages long with 10 pages of advertising which paid for its printing and distribution to members. The original intention was to inform
RORC members of the activities of the club worldwide but Anthony was quick to point out that it would inevitably end up costing the club money… unless it was made accessible to every sailor around the world interested in ocean racing and so attractive to any advertiser interested in reaching them. Anthony duly took over the new journal, starting
Ocean Publications Ltd on the back of Seahorse and helping to develop it into the fine magazine we enjoy today. He was a keen offshore sailor and most famously a prominent
figure on Ted Heath’s Morning Cloud programmes, navigating the team to a Sydney Hobart win and Admiral’s Cup success. Less well known but more significant is that Anthony is credited
with the idea for what became the Whitbread Round the World Race – something he dreamed up one quiet evening in a pub with his friend Guy Pearce. The creative entrepreneurial spirit never faded and when he moved to the Isle of Wight in 2003 he redirected a lot of his prodigious energy to the benefit of the island and its small businesses. He will be widely missed. Eddie Warden-Owen, CEO
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Club page
JM LIOT/DPPI
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