64 CLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2018RORC CARIBBEAN 600
Clockwise from
top: the
gollywobbler is
set flying;
hoisting the
jackyard topsail;
catting one of
the two anchorswho was so impressed that he offered Barr anything he
wanted if he’d jump ship and sail for the German
emperor. Barr would have none of it, but he did accept
the Kaiser’s racing flag as a tribute.
Kastelein’s replica was built by the Van der Graaf
shipyard in Holland and launched in March 2000. Her
name is Eleonora, now in the ownership of Mr Zbynek
Zak, and it was my privilege to sail aboard for last year’s
RORC Caribbean 600.
Like Westward, Eleonora was born to compete, but
with a downwind rig that could cover the best part of
half a football pitch, round the cans events are not ideal.
Similar in length to the Fastnet, the RORC Caribbean
600 is a schooner’s dream. So long as the trade winds
deliver, it features reaches up to 150 miles long with a
beat or two thrown in to make sure nobody goes to
sleep. Six hundred miles around Antigua, racing the
world’s top classics and a line-up of brand-new flying
machines, makes for an unforgettable event.
I came aboard in English Harbour to find the yacht
lying stern-to with two anchors out. On deck were a racecrew of 28 under Captain Brendan McCoy. The crowd
on deck seemed big enough but Jason Beken, the mate,
reckoned we could have done with a few more.
Competence levels ranged from the guests, sailors all but
many of them unfamiliar with big gaffers, to the nine
tough, fit seamen and women of the permanent crew.
This core was beefed up by a group of itinerant
professionals. Like the regular hands, these men were
total seamen, just as at home on an Edwardian schooner
as they obviously were in their ‘day jobs’ aboard
state-of-the-art maxis and world-girdling racing
machines. As we divided into watches, they gave tactical
support to the skipper and saved the rest of us from
killing ourselves. Blocks bigger than a man’s head flying
around on wire runners and giant sails ready to snuff
you out before anyone noticed you’d gone left no space
for passengers. It was time for some serious training and
we’d several days before the start of the main event.
I don’t know what Eleonora’s anchors weigh, but they
are proper, fisherman-style hooks. Bringing them aboard
demands old-fashioned seamanship and high-calibre