clutch of Class 40s and chartered production racers up to
supermaxis such as Ludde Ingvall’s CQS, Maxi 72 Proteus,
Rambler 88 and a handful of superyachts such as
Southern Wind SW102 Farfalla.
Crews enjoy it because this race is a short, but intense
challenge. Last year on the maxi Proteus (they retired with
damage this year), America’s Cup sailor Stu Bannatyne tells
me, they made “over 70 sail changes”. In a race lasting under
two days, that’s a change on average every 45 minutes.
Fleet measurer Sandy Mair has done the race five times.
“It’s a tough, tough race,” he tells me.
“You have legs that are 70 miles hard on the wind, brutal
beats where the race can be won or lost, fast spinnaker
runs, you’ve got 12 hours in the beating sun and 12 hours of
darkness where, because you’re wet, you get cold. You feel
really beaten up at the end,” he says, smiling as he says it.
Pro sailor and navigator Wouter Verbraak agrees.
Following a skiing injury this year he was helping with
weather forecasting from ashore, but recalls it as: “a race
all about gear changes. It’s a big job for the navigators to
anticipate them. It is a really a great all-round challenge
for crews, from driving to trimming to your bow team.
“It is hard because of the lack of opportunity for
recovery and it’s really difficult to run a proper watch
system. You have squalls in the morning and in the late
afternoon, so you can end up damp and cold. It’s a
bite-sized race, with bite-sized chunks of misery,” he says,
laughing uproariously.“But,” he adds, “it’s always just another 60 miles to the
next point. There are a lot of corners, so there are a lot of
opportunities. It’s intense but the weather is pleasant,
there’s a lot of variety – and it’s scenic.”
So the Caribbean 600 provides some fantastic
challenges for navigators and, along with all the high-tech
tools, features some good, old-fashioned Mk 1 eyeball
skills and tactical challenges.Big air surfing
In a mix of squalls and sunshine, the fleet stormed off on
the beat up to Barbuda. The forecast was for the wind to
build over the next few days, from the high 20 knots to
over 30, and crews reported seas of around 4m.
Inevitably, it led to sail and equipment damage and over‘Fully loaded and flat out, this
was as exhilArating as it comes’
caribbean 600
Reggae and
dancing at the
pre-start party,
and scenes from
the start off
Antigua
Spray everywhere as a record was set by the trimaran Paradox