Living vicariously through the Caribbean 600 fleet and the VOR
by David Schmidt 20 Feb 2018 04:27 PST
February 19, 2018
Proteus, winner of the 2016 RORC Caribbean 600 and Hap Fauth's Bella Mente at the start of the RORC Caribbean 600 © RORC / Tim Wright
The cliché stands that the grass is always greener on the hill's other side, but living in Seattle, a place with ample rain to make the grass plenty green, I'm a lot more envious of people who reside under clear blue skies than I am of those with lush lawns. After all, while I'm in no danger of catching a sun tan in Seattle during the "glorious" month of February, the honest truth is that my lawn could use a mowing thanks to months of drumbeat-steady rain. So, while my grass might be looking shaggy, I know darn right well that the eastern side of the hill (in this case, the North Cascade Mountains) is in fact sunnier than my rain-streaked neighborhood.
Punch all the way east to the sun-kissed island of Antigua today, however, and not only does one find plenty of sunshine and Vitamin D-fed grass, but also 84 raceboats that have gathered for the start of the 10th edition of the RORC's Caribbean 600, which is an offshore contest that wends past Caribbean islands on trade winds, delivering big-grin mid-winter sailing for those fortunate to have escaped the mainland's cold rain and snow.
While almost a decade spent living under Seattle's "dark curtain" has taught me not to covet other people's sunshine (at least openly), I will admit that I experience utterly predictable jealousy pangs each year when the Caribbean 600 hoves into view on the calendar, as I not only have friends who sail this great event each year, but it's also a race that's been high on my bucket list since its inaugural running in 2009.
Racing began on Monday in this now-classic event, and with 84 boats on the line-ranging in size and sophistication from Class 40s and other quick 40-plus footers to no-holds-barred maxi yachts including George David's Rambler 88, Ludde Ingvall's now-100-foot CQS, and the pair of Volvo Open 70s (Monster Project and Warrior), as well as other fast hardware including George Sakellaris' Maxi 72 Proteus, which won the overall race in 2016 and 2017 and is returning this year with a star-studded crew, and a breeze-on forecast, 2018 promises to be a great offshore contest.
Sail-World.com wishes fair winds and following seas to all competitors racing in this year's Caribbean 600, and the Seattle office in particular encourages all sailors to actively soak up as much sunshine as possible.
Meanwhile, sailors competing in the Volvo Ocean Race are experiencing compression in their ranks as the six boats that are racing from Hong Kong to Auckland, New Zealand, are (at the time of this writing) separated by less than 100 nautical miles as they seek to escape the Doldrums' sticky grip on their hulls and rigs. Skipper David Witt and his Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag team are currently topping the leaderboard, followed by skipper Simeon Tienpont's Team AkzoNobel and Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel, however these margins are getting skinnier and skinnier as the back of the pack plays catch up with the leaders.
"It's a bit stressful when you can feel the hot breath from the other boats breathing down your neck," said Scallywag's Annemieke Bes in an official VOR press release. "But I think we've managed to come out the other side. It's a big relief."
While true relief will come in the form of steadier and stronger breeze, for now at least the sailors are playing each micro-opportunity to its fullest potential in the hopes of keeping their busses moving down the track. "We're still going through a lot of clouds," said Team AkzoNobel's Martine Grael in an official VOR communication. "We can still have a park up where everybody catches us... You just have to deal with it. It's part of the race."
Given that the leaders still have 1,700-plus miles of brine to ply before they cross the finishing line off of Auckland, it's fair to say that the physical and psychological pressures will continue for some time, however it's also fair to say that the psychological components should get at least a bit easier once the trade winds fill-in and individual clouds no longer pose serious threats to boatspeed and schedule positions.
Finally, progress is continuing on the rebuild of Vestas/11th Hour Racing's Volvo Ocean 65, which sustained serious damage following a collision with a fishing boat at the end of Leg 4, which carried the fleet of seven boats from Melbourne, Australia to Hong Kong. With a pinch of luck these repairs will be done in time for the team to rejoin the fleet on the March 18 starting line of Leg 7, which will take the fleet from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil. Stay tuned!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt,
Sail-World USA Editor
Seattle, USA