RORC Caribbean 600 - Day 3
by Louay Habib / RORC 25 Feb 16:31 PST
26 February 2025
Christian Zugel's Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 has won IRC Super Zero, overcoming setbacks to lead on overall after IRC corrected time. Tschüss 2 now awaits challengers still out on the racecourse for overall IRC victory.
In IRC Zero, Carkeek 52 Rán edged out Carkeek 54 Daguet 5 by just 8 minutes, securing its third consecutive class win. Niklas Zennstrom praised Daguet 5's strong performance, while navigator Steve Hayles called the final battle "epic racing."
Multihulls are near the finish, with MG5 Wellness Training leading Malolo. IRC One and IRC Two battles continue, with key positions still in play.
IRC Super Zero
Christian Zugel's Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 finished the RORC Caribbean 600 in an elapsed time of 1 Day 21 Hrs 31 Mins 15 Secs to win the IRC Super Zero Class after time correction. Second was Mills 72 Balthasar with Louis Balcean at the helm. George Procopiou's Volvo 70 Aiolos took third after IRC time correction by less than an hour from Balthasar.
"We knew that it's going to be a really tough race this year and we knew we had to perform at our very best," commented Christian Zugel. "I think the team did just an amazing job. We still had some bad luck though. We had to send Cian (Guilfoyle) over the side to cut off a pot that was caught around the keel. We just couldn't get it off by backing down and we got stuck behind Guadeloupe. But I think it happened to other teams too, and we just said we got to put the hammer down, and we did last night. I don't think we've ever gone that fast for such a long time"
"The RORC Caribbean 600 is probably the toughest race we've done," commented Christian Zugel. "None of us slept a minute until the second day, when we managed to grab just two hours sleep every six hours. So it was exhausting, so why do I do it?"
"When you are racing, all you can see around you is beautiful islands and ocean, it's hard to put it into words. At night, with clear skies and no moon, you see so many stars. You're moving at a rapid speed and all you hear is water rushing and some instructions from the crew; it is pretty special."
Having won IRC Super Zero and with all of their class accounted for, Tschüss 2 set the bar for the best corrected time under IRC, but must now wait for other boats to finish before Tschüss 2 can dream about overall victory. The next batch of boats to finish were from IRC Zero, but Tschüss 2 still sits at the top of the IRC Overall ranking. However, two boats in IRC Zero had a really good crack at toppling Tschüss from first overall.
IRC Zero
Frederic Puzin's Carkeek 54 Daguet 5 was competing in its first ever offshore race and the all-French team put in an amazing performance. Daguet 5 was the first boat to finish in the highly competitive IRC Zero Class, in an elapsed time of 2 Days 3 Hrs 11 Mins 02 Secs. Daguet 5 had a colossal battle with Niklas Zennstrom's Carkeek 52 Rán the whole way around the 600-mile course. However, Rán pulled out all the stops on the final leg to win IRC Zero by just 8 minutes and 7 Seconds after IRC time correction. Third in class is yet to be decided but Jon Desmond's PAC52 Final Final is in a good position to take third ahead of James Neville's Carkeek 45 Ino Noir.
Niklas Zennstrom was delighted to retain the IRC Zero title but was full of praise for Daguet 5. This is the third year in a row for Rán 8, and Team Rán won the race in 2012 with the Maxi 72 Rán.
"We had such a great collection of very competitive boats, some of which have won the race before under previous owners, but the final battle was with Daguet 5 and the boat is a real weapon," commented Zennstrom. "Daguet is a development of our own boat and Frederic (Puzin) and his team really performed well."
At Redonda, Rán was over nine minutes behind on corrected time from Daguet 5 with just 35 miles to go to make up the difference. Rán dug deep and made some good calls to close the gap and win IRC Zero on corrected time by 7 minutes and 53 seconds.
Steve Hayles, navigator on Carkeek 52 Rán described the final intense battle with the slightly larger and faster Daguet 5. Despite being on the back foot, Rán stayed in contention. In 2024, Rán was being hunted to the finish by TP52 Wizard, but this year Rán was the hunter and Daguet 5 the prey.
"You know, we nearly lost a very, very similar situation in the last race. This year the roles were reversed. So, it is nice to have learned from that, and no doubt Daguet will pass that on to somebody next time. This was offshore racing at its very best; the final leg underpinned all of it - just epic racing," concluded Hayles.
"When entry opened for this year's race it was very easy to say yes!" smiled Niklas Zennstrom. "It's an incredible race in such a fantastic venue, with good breeze and lots of corners to go around, and especially this year we have had really competitive yachts. The race has such a good ambiance, on the course and ashore. It's very informal, everyone's having a good time."
The Multihull battle is coming to a conclusion with the two leading boats just ten miles from the finish. Marc Guillemot's MG5 Wellness Training is just two miles ahead of Thomas Kassberg's ORC 50 Malolo. Wellness Training looks like taking Multihull Line Honours, with Malolo winning the class after MOCRA time correction.
The winner of IRC One is likely to be decided tomorrow, Thursday 27th February. Philippe Franz's NM43 Albator is ranked top of the class with a lead of over three hours on corrected time from Alister Richardson's Class40 Tquila. Andrew & Sam Hall's Lombard 46 Pata Negra is ranked third in class. The trio have about 150 miles to go, with Albator leading the charge to the mark at Barbuda.
In IRC Two, the fleet are negotiating the wind shadow at Guadeloupe. Ross Applebey's Team Scarlet on Emily leads the class but their IRC corrected lead has been seriously dented by a dose of the slows at Guadeloupe. Very much in the hunt for IRC Two are two more corinthian crews; Cox & Dunlop's J/122 Mojito and J/122 El Ocaso, skippered by Nikki Henderson are battling on the water and after IRC time correction for the class win.
The RORC Race Team have received official retirements from sixteen boats, with no reported injuries to crew. A full list of retired boats can be seen at SailRaceHQ.
Follow the RORC Caribbean 600 via the official website for the latest pictures and videos of the action including the competitors' live blog. All of the boats can be tracked via the race player.
For more stunning pictures from the start of the 2025 RORC Caribbean 600 visit the gallery here.