et’s go down to the Caribbean, win a race,
and drink a barrel of rum.”
A good plan for the cold, short days of
February, and Peter Aschenbrenner’s crew
tore through their three-point checklist. In
strong tradewinds and rough seas, this was the fastest
Caribbean 600 races in its ten-year history, and
Aschenbrenner’s Irens 63 trimaran Paradox blasted round
to set a new course record of 1d 13h.
“Brutal, fast, wet, intense,” is how he described it. The
fastest sailor in the world, Paul Larsen, his eyeballs
sandpapered by a continual barrage of spray, says this race
is “a beauty”.
“The foilers, the cruisers, the compromises...,” he says.
“This race was a leveller.”
On the heels of Paradox, was George David’s famous
Rambler 88, roaring back across the finish line in Antigua
35 minutes later to claim the monohull record and win
overall on IRC. “The whole boat was loaded up and we had
to take extreme care. Nobody got hurt and we didn’t break
anything,” David said. The boat, the record, was even faster
than when he won the Caribbean 600 in his previous
Rambler 100, thanks to a 1.5m longer keel fin (she now
draws 7.5m), a 1.5 tonne lighter bulb and the
reintroduction of the yacht’s foils.The Caribbean 600 is a race you come to win. With 84
starters this year, the largest yet, the RORC Caribbean 600
has, within a decade, become one of the region’s largest.
The crew lists glitter with top pros: America’s Cup sailors
such as Brad Butterworth and Stu Bannatyne, Volvo and
Vendée racers like Guillermo Altadill, US Olympic Gold
medallist Jonathan McKee. Yet at its heart are club
members, amateur racers, owners who have put the event
at the heart of a season’s planning, and in many cases
sailed thousands of miles from Europe to take part.
How has the Caribbean 600, what might once have
seemed a balmy and agreeable jaunt through the Leeward
Islands, become one of the most epic offshore events,
worthy of a major campaign medal?Caribbean offshore
The idea for the Caribbean 600 was born over lunch at
Cloggy’s in Falmouth Harbour. Yachtsman John Burnie
and Stan Pearson from Antigua Rigging thought there was
a place for a serious offshore race in the Caribbean and
concocted a tortuous 600-mile route from Antigua,
sailing via Barbuda, Nevis, Saba, St Barth, St Martin,
Guadeloupe, Montserrat and back via Barbuda and
Redonda. The course was genius: it features nearly every
wind angle and is fraught with local wind.caribbean 600
The Ker 56 Varuna,
which went to
the rescue of
catamaran Fujin L