Class40s in the RORC Caribbean 600 Race - Day 3
by Oliver Dewar 23 Feb 2011 17:36 UTC
Three Class40's remain
The six Class40’s racing in the RORC Caribbean 600 were reduced to five in the first 24 hours of racing with Gonzalo Botin and his Spanish crew on Tales forced to retire during the beat between Saba and St. Barths sustaining an ankle injury on board. By 20:00 GMT on Tuesday evening, Ned Collier-Wakefield and the five crew on board the Akilaria RC2 Concise 2 had rounded St. Maarten at the northern end of the course and were reaching south along the 185-mile descent to Guadeloupe averaging just under 11 knots in around 17 knots and holding a lead of 14 miles over fellow Briton, Matthew Sweetman, on Puff the Magic Dragon (Olivier Singelin’s 2009 Akilaria Gonser Group – Cambio) with David Ducosson in third on Fitz (Philippe Fiston’s akilaria RC2 Territoires Attitude) a further 22 miles astern.
At this stage in the 2010 RORC Caribbean 600, skippers were studying the weather files with increasing concern and an unchanging forecast of light conditions forced many to retire from the race. This year, however, models suggested stable north-easterly breeze of around 13-16 knots across the course.
As Botin and his two crew reached Jolly Harbour on Tales, the South African brothers, Lenjohn and Peter van der Wel and their four crew on Global Ocean Race 2011-12 entry, Ocean Warrior racing in CSA, trailed Ducosson and Fitz by 28 miles making slightly under ten knots in the lee of St. Martin while Martin Zeyer and the German crew on Pogo 2 reached St. Barths 20 miles behind the South Africans following a long port tack to the south-east after rounding Saba. One hour later, Puff the Magic Dragon diverted from the route south and headed to English Harbour, Antigua, in a move that was followed by Ocean Warrior early on Wednesday morning, leaving 50 per cent of the original Class40 fleet racing.