RORC Caribbean 600 - Day 3: Argo wins multihull thriller
by Royal Ocean Racing Club 21 Feb 2024 06:16 PST
21 February 2024
Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo (USA) has taken Multihull Line Honours in the 2024 Caribbean 600 in an elapsed time of 01 Day 08 Hrs 08 Mins and 40 Secs.
Argo Crew: Jason Carroll, Weston Barlow, Chad Corning, Pete Cumming, Sam Goodchild, Chris Maxted, Charlie Ogletree, Brian Thompson.
Erik Maris' MOD70 Zoulou (FRA) was the second boat to finish the RORC Caribbean 600 and was just 19 minutes behind Zoulou after over 32 hours of intense racing. Alexia Barrier's MOD70 Limosa - The Famous Project (FRA), co-skippered by Dee Caffari, completed the Multihull Line Honours podium, finishing the race less than four hours behind Argo.
"This year's race is like any other; it isn't over until the final beat," commented Argo's Jason Carroll. "This year, we may not have had many lead changes, but Zoulou was right behind us at every single turn. Zoulou was forever closing in on us and we had to keep finding ways to protect our position. Honestly, I think Zoulou has shown a big step up in performance since the RORC Transatlantic Race; they were faster than us in a few situations. Limosa - The Famous Project has also shown a big improvement, which is great for them. They were very close with us and Zoulou the entire time; it's great to see them refining their performance."
This was the fifth RORC Caribbean 600 for Jason Carroll and the second time MOD70 Argo has taken Multihull Line honours. Argo's 2022 race record remains intact (01 Day 05 Hrs 48 Mins 45 Secs).
"We love this race, it's relatively close to home, with beautiful weather, scenery and people!" continued Jason Carroll. "It's a nice length but still challenging as it's super-active the entire time, keeping us all busy. It really is an awesome race with reaching conditions and plenty of turns, with new angles to keep you sharp and engaged; the Caribbean 600 is a very thought-provoking and fun race with great competition."
Erik Maris' Zoulou got off to a flyer, port tacking the 11-strong Multihull Fleet: "It was a great start, the plan worked but to be honest we were expecting to duck the fleet, not go over the top of them!" commented Erik Maris. "The race was like a massive game of cat and mouse; we thought we were going to catch Argo three or four times, but every time we caught up, they kept running away from us. We were pushing and pushing right to the end, but to no avail. We will get them next time."
The Multihull Line Honours podium is complete with Argo winning the RORC Caribbean 600 Multihull Trophy. The three MOD70s are leading the class after MOCRA time correction. The latest multihull to finish is Fabrice Cahierc's Ocean Fifty Planet Realities which is currently fourth after time correction. The SailRace HQ Results Programme predicts that just one multihull is on the danger list to topple Argo for the MOCRA crown; the defending MOCRA champion Adrian Keller's Irens 84 Allegra (SUI). The largest multihull in the race will win the class if Allegra can finish by 14:04:05 AST today 21 February. Allegra is predicted to finish very close to that time, watch this space!
Satellite Tracking: caribbean600.rorc.org/tracking
Teams in the RORC Caribbean 600 are sending in videos, pictures and messages from the race course which are posted on the live blog. The RORC Social Media Channels are also covering many aspects of the race. The RORC Caribbean 600 forms part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season Points Championships, the world's largest offshore racing series.
For more information go to RORC Caribbean 600 website: caribbean600.rorc.org