Feel the strain
THE CARIBBEAN 600 IS NO TROPICAL JAUNT. PIP HARE DESCRIBES A RACE THAT TESTED EVERY CREW
The Caribbean 600 is no tropical jaunt; it’s a dramatic race that tests every crew, as Pip Hare discovered when competing
Never give up – that could have been the theme to this year’s RORC Caribbean 600 race. It was an event full of dramas and adversity across the 76-strong fleet. The course from Antigua, weaving around 11 Caribbean islands, is renowned for being tough; don’t be fooled by the image of azure waters and tropical beaches. The average wind speed is over 20 knots, the waves are big and the relatively short legs that pinball between islands give this offshore race a rare intensity.
The drama this year began well before the start gun when Jason Carroll’s MOD70, Argo, capsized while making a practice race
around Antigua. What followed was an extraordinary story which saw Argo return to racing form in just 48 hours, then compete against Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati, with both boats going on to break the multihull course record. These events set the tone for what was to become an epic race across all the classes, as sailors with gritted teeth battled various challenges with examples of tenacity and teamwork.
The RORC Caribbean 600 was to be the first time MOD70S Maserati and Argo would line up against each other since Carroll purchased Argo late last year. The match was much anticipated: both crews were aiming to beat the previous multihull course record set in 2017 by Phaedo3. As a warm up, the skippers agreed to take part in the Antigua 360 race, a circumnavigation of the island on the Friday prior to the 600 start. This would be a first glimpse of how the two boats compared.
There was a close race round the eastern shores of Antigua, Argo pulled ahead and then – disaster.
British sailor Brian Thompson was aboard Argo and described the events leading to the capsize: “By the time we got around the top of the island we were about three miles ahead. There was a squall to the north, which we had been tracking. We outran it downwind, but when we started to reach [down the west of the island] it caught back up with us and it had gained in strength.
“We got hit by the squall, eased everything super fast as the bow dipped, but once the front beam hit the water the rudders came out, we lost steerage and went slowly over to 90°.”
In circumstances that Thompson describes as “miraculous”, Argo came to a halt with the mast to windward, then stabilised without resting on the rig. This was partly due to wind pressure on the hull to leeward and partly due to a small leak that allowed the stern to fill with water, weighing it down. This meant the mast, which was just touching the bottom, simply scraped in the sand rather than taking the full load of the boat. This is the first time a big multihull has capsized without breaking her rig.
Argo was recovered within five hours, then returned to Falmouth Harbour in Antigua for a full inspection.
Carroll decided that if there was a chance the boat
‘WE LOST STEERAGE AND WENT SLOWLY OVER TO 90 DEGREES’
could race, he would take it, and so during a 48 hour marathon of work, helped by many in the sailing community, the mast was removed and inspected, the engine overhauled and electronics replaced. Soon, what had seemed impossible became a reality.
As a mark of solidarity, Soldini agreed to postpone the MOD70 start by three hours, allowing the Argo team to make final preparations and safety checks. At 1400 on 18 February, the two MODS started the race alone, then continued to push each other hard around the 600-mile course. Maserati finished seven minutes ahead of Argo. Both teams crossed the finish line with reasons to celebrate. Maserati had set a new course record of 1d 6h, while Argo had finished just behind.
Reflecting afterwards, Thompson commented: “In offshore racing we get very good at weathering the storms. We had a big storm when we capsized, but it didn’t knock anyone down, no one got despondent. We just worked out how we would get to our target of racing and to do it safely.”
French solo sailor François Gabart who was also part of the Argo crew, said of the experience: “If every multihull skipper has to capsize once in his career, this is the way to do it. We are really proud of the team and everything they did. I will remember this race for the rest of my life.”
Seattle sailor Greg Slyngstad had a completely different experience of the RORC Caribbean 600 compared to last year, when his all-carbon Bieker 53, Fujin, capsized on the first night of racing as the crew passed the island of Saba in squally conditions. Slyngstad’s return to the race again after a difficult salvage and recovery of Fujin and a six-month refit was, understandably, an emotional experience for him.
But far from being hesitant, Fujin screeched off the start line like a scalded cat, then on the first beat cut inside the rest of the fleet taking lifts along the cliffs.
By the time the fleet had reached the island of Nevis
(and due to the later start of the MODS), Fujin was leading on the water, having over taken VO70 Wizard, the eventual winner of IRC Zero and the winner of monohull line honours. The unlikely duo, Wizard and Fujin, remained in close contact trading the lead for the entire race. Fujin was, as one of Wizard’s crew put it, “the little catamaran that just wouldn’t go away”.
Fujin finished 3rd multihull on the water and 2nd in the MOCRA handicap fleet.
On the crew’s decision to sail hard despite the traumas of last year, Slyngstad said: “There was a little anxiety on everybody’s part but we decided we were just going to push the boat as hard as we could and just be alert and ready for anything. I trust the boat more since the capsize. We, the operators, are the weakest link.
“It was a little emotional getting to Saba this time. I was off watch but I can assure you I was fully awake. We didn’t mention last year’s accident at all, but I am sure it was in the front of everyone’s thoughts.”
At the finish Slyngstad pulled out a ten-year-old bottle of rum which had been on board during the capsize, intended for last year’s finish, and it was not without emotion that the crew toasted their success.
In the Class 40 fleet, there was a record number of ten entries, including skippers such as Amyeric Chappellier, Kito de Pavant, and Luke Berry, all of whom had top ten places in last year’s Route du Rhum race. I was also racing in my fourth Caribbean 600, aboard Henrik Bergesen’s Class 40, Hydra. The intensity of this race never ceases to surprise me and for a Class 40 it is particularly brutal. This year we made 22 headsail changes over the course of the race, averaging one every three hours. As part of the bow team, I was permanently drenched.
From the start, the race was dominated by the three Manuard-designed Mach 40.3s, which split early from the pack. The three raced the entire course in sight of
‘IN THE CLASS 40 FLEET THERE WAS A RECORD NUMBER OF ENTRIES’
‘THE PACE ACROSS ALL CLASSES IS FURIOUS’
each other, regularly exchanging the lead and finishing with just five minutes and 33 seconds separating 1st and 3rd. Catherine Pourre took her second C600 win, followed by Chappellier in 2nd then Luke Berry. Commenting after the finish, Pourre admitted that it had been a stressful race: “It was match racing all along. It was quite different from last year when we were battling the elements. This year we had the competition and that was really close.”
Further back in Class 40 the competition was just as intense. On Hydra we vied with Louis Burton’s BHB for 5th place, eventually losing out by only six minutes though inching closer with every tack towards the finish line.
Jonty and Vicky Layfield, co-owners of Swan 48 Sleeper X, had a great race and won both the IRC 3 class and the Spirit of Tradition trophy. The Layfields are no strangers to this event. They live in Antigua and race regularly in the Caribbean 600. This year the couple set out in their 50-year-old S&S Swan with a scratch crew largely made up of Antiguan residents – most had never sailed together.
This crew also had their share of troubles. There was a small fire caused by kitchen roll dangling over the stove. They were pooped by a wave on the way down to Guadeloupe, which filled up the cockpit and temporarily knocked out the engine controls.
Gallons of water were coming into the boat from an unknown source and, for the first half of the race, the crew was pumping out every 30 minutes to keep on top of the problem. They eventually traced the problem to anchor locker drain holes. The force of Sleeper X slamming into the waves was pushing water into the locker but not allowing it to drain out. As there is no access to this part of the boat from the inside the Layfield’s son Jack was lowered over the side in his harness to bung the holes when the team reached the Guadeloupe wind shadow.
Despite all these issues the crew had a great race. “Sleeper is great on a course like the 600,” said Jonty Layfield. “There is plenty of reaching and upwind. She is a wonderful sea boat; upwind you barely need to steer at all. Downwind and on long reaching legs helming is harder – you have to hold the wheel hard over and you couldn’t spend more than an hour on the helm without getting tired.”
The Layfields, too, stress what a tough course the Caribbean 600 is. “The pace across all classes is furious. We were in a tacking duel with Quokka and Nemesis up the shores of La Desirade, and calling starboard on them coming out the shore, like it was the first beat, but 48 hours into the race.”
“It’s exhausting,” adds Vicky, “and every year I think I won’t do it again... but I always do.”
She describes succinctly the feelings of many as they round the tiny island of Redonda to face the final 35-mile beat back to Antigua.
“You think it’s nearly over then there’s a six- or seven-hour beat into big seas and 20 knots of wind – it’s soul destroying, real punishment for the smaller boats.” The original course designers should sail round in a small boat to feel just what that final beat is like, she insists.
Yet despite it all she is still smiling as she says this. She knows as well as I do that we will both be back to race again. Because once you have sailed in the RORC Caribbean 600 you’re hooked. This a race that starts as an item on the bucket list and ends up as a habit you can’t kick.