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RORC 600 Caribbean – Antigua – Che la sua fosse stata una prestazione da incorniciare era apparso chiaro sin dal momento in cui aveva tagliato il traguardo. Una sensazione supportata dai fatti, perchè Lee Overlay Partners, terzo in tempo reale alle spalle di ICAP Leopard e DSK Pioneer, ha fatto suo il successo in tempo compensato nella RORC 600 Caribbean, anticipando di quasi un ora il Farr 100 di Mike Slade. Oltre alla vittoria assoluta, il Cookson 50 di Adrian Lee ha festeggiato anche l’affermazione in classe IRC Super Zero, quella, per intenderci, riservata agli scafi dotati di chiglia basculante.
Ad imporsi nelle altre classi sono stati il Rogers 46 Yeoman XXXII, trionfatore in IRC Class Zero, il Mumm 36 Cafè Americano High Tension, leader in IRC 1, e a Lou,un Class 40 cui non è sfuggita la vittoria nello speciale raggruppamento IRC riservato a equipaggi composti da due persone.
Ricordiamo che a tagliare per primi il traguardo di Antigua erano stati ICAP Leopard, che ha fissato in 44 ore, 5 minuti 14 secondi il record del percorso per i monoscafi, e Region Guadeloupe, l’ORMA 60 di John Burnie, fondatore della regata. Per il trimarano il tempo complessivo è stato di 40 ore, 11 minuti e 5 secondi.
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RORC 600 CARIBBEAN, AS GOOD AS IT GETS
[RORC 600 Caribbean Presse Release] RORC members, John Burnie and Stan Pearson are two well-known characters in the yachting community in the Caribbean. They have often talked about an offshore yacht race – something that the Caribbean has never had – and now their plans devised over a few beers, have now become a reality. The RORC Caribbean 600, in association with the Antigua Yacht Club, is now firmly established as annual event.
Mike Slade’s 100ft Maxi, ICAP Leopard came to Antigua with a clear target, to set a monohull record for a new offshore race. That task is completed. ICAP Leopard needed 44 hours 5 minutes 14 seconds to complete the race course for the first ever RORC Caribbean 600. 13 minutes less than they took to complete the 2007 Rolex Fastnet, a race of roughly the same length, but of totally different conditions. This was a breezy race, but t-shirts and shorts were the order of the day for competitors.
“A fantastic yacht race – commented ICAP Leopard‘s boat Captain Chris Sherlock – High speed sailing in warm conditions. We might have gone round a bit quicker if we hadn’t snagged a fish-trap, but if the breeze had been up a bit more then I reckon we could have taken a few hours off the time. Let us hope we get some more wind next year.”
John Burnie’s ORMA 60 Trimaran, Region Guadeloupe has set the time to beat for the multihulls winning the multihull class in an elapsed time of 40 hours 11 minutes 5 seconds. Burnie was also one of the founders of the race: “We knew it would be a challenge and we certainly got one. Hurtling around the Caribbean at night in over 20 knots with nothing to hang onto is not for the faint-hearted.”
On handicap, Irish eyes were smiling. Adrian Lee’s Irish Cookson 50, Lee Overlay Partners set a cracking pace around the track, beating ICAP Leopard by over an hour on corrected time and in doing so, winning IRC Class Super Zero, Canting Keel and the prize of Overall winner of the RORC Caribbean 600 under IRC.
The success of any yachting event should be measured by the satisfaction of the competitors and Swan 45 President, Vittorio Codecasa knows all about high profile regattas. He was competing on Danilo Salsi’s Swan 90 DSK Pioneer, winner of IRC Class Super Zero and first Swan at the RORC Caribbean 600.
“There is only one word to describe this regatta: fantastico! The course; weather; route through the Caribbean islands; including the active volcano on Montserrat; reefs like Redonda; the sunshine; ideal temperature; constant 20 knot breeze; organisation and logistics. It’s bound to become one of the most aspirational regattas among the classics such as the Rolex Fastnet, Rolex Sydney-Hobart and Rolex Middle Sea Race.” Commented Codecasa.
David Aisher’s Rogers 46, Yeoman XXXII was the winner of IRC Class Zero. The crew composed of friends and RORC members including RORC Commodore, Andrew McIrvine: “Nearly half of the RORC membership are overseas and we wanted to bring this race to them. The RORC has a well-known domestic race programme but IRC is now raced all over the world. We wanted a RORC race in the Caribbean and now we have got one. I must say that it was not a Caribbean cruise. After we finished, I had a feeling of accomplishment, similar to competing a Fastnet. I was just as tired, but no where near as cold!”.
In IRC 1, Bernie Evan-Wong’s Mumm 36, Cafè Americano High Tension was the class winner. The Antiguan boat showed experience and guile around the course and Evan-Wong showed immense courage – he injured his ribs but refused to throw in the towel, carrying the injury for over two days.
In IRC two handed Willy Bissante’s Class 40 Lou came out on top. Bissante is from Guadeloupe and plans to compete in the Route de Rhum in his Class 40 next year. The benchmark for the Class 40 was set by Tony Lawson’s Concise, fully crewed by young offshore sailors from Hamble UK. They were the first Class 40 to complete the course in just under 75.
The most popular yachts competing were Swans and there were many close fought encounters right across the course. None more so than that between Adam Cleary’s Gienah and Daniel Segalowicz’s Schider, two identical Swan 62s. The two were never out of sight of each other for over three days of racing. Back at home in Guadeloupe, their friends in the local bar had hooked up the RORC Race tracker to a television screen and were following the battle by the hour. After the race, the two teams enjoyed a cold beer together and swapped tales of their race.
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