The line honours at the 16th RORC Caribbean 600 went to the Juan K 88 "Lucky" skippered by Bryon Ehrhart. The team had already crossed the finish line just 1 day, 17 hours, 14 minutes and 12 seconds after the starting signal off Fort Charlotte. However, the overall IRC victory in the monohull category went to Christian Zugel's Volvo Open 70 "Tschüss 2" ahead of Niklas Zennström's Carkeek CF 52 "Rán" and Frederik Puzin's 54 Carkeek sister "Daguet 5". The Caribbean race ended with mixed results for the three German crews.
RORC Caribbean 600: two GER yachts made it through
Mathias Müller von Blumencron's crew on "Red 2" had to retire from the long-distance classic after a slow start and a remarkably strong chase to catch up with a damaged oar. For Tobias Brinkmann's quartet on the JPK 10.30 "Momo" (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), sixth place in IRC 2 was worth 24th place in the overall IRC rankings. The skipper took on the challenge of the RORC Caribbean 600 with a small multi-generational crew including his father Berthold Brinkmann, Martin Buck and Sönke Boy.
Only a long cross between St Martin in the north of the Lesser Antilles and Guadeloupe set back the crew, who had been fighting for a podium place until then and even led his group at times. Tobias Brinkmann was nevertheless delighted with his result at the finish of the RORC Caribbean 600. Here it goes to the results for the RORC Caribbean 600.
Tobias Brinkmann explains: "We had a really great race here and also really enjoyed our time ashore with all the like-minded regatta enthusiasts! In between we were doing very well, but the long leg from St Martin to Guadeloupe was not a reach this time, but a cross. That wasn't so good for us as the smallest boat in the fleet. In addition, we chose a nice car park in the evening calm near Guadeloupe, completely under land. We had to abandon our hopes of winning the IRC2 group there."
A challenging race for small crews
The joy of the "Momo" crew was not dampened by the loss of places in the second half of the race. Tobias Brinkmann said: "We are still very happy with our sixth place in the group, because it was a really challenging race for a four-man crew! In any case, it was a great experience that we will certainly remember for a long time! The RORC did an excellent job organising the regatta."
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the club this year, sailors can only wish for at least another 100 years!" Tobias Brinkmann
The young team on the "Haspa Hamburg" (Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt) skippered by Fabian Bläsi finished their three-and-a-half-day race in fifth place in IRC Zero and 34th place in the overall IRC rankings. After a varied race, doldrums and local challenges such as a night-time section south of Guadeloupe peppered with barely visible fishing buoys, the crew also experienced the finale intensively.
Pirates of the Caribbean, Lummerland and Star Wars on the brain
The final report of the "Haspa Hamburg" team said: "The last island off Antigua resembled a huge rock sticking out of the water. We all had different associations - from Pirates of the Caribbean, Lummerland (Jim Button) and Star Wars. Behind the island, we were briefly afraid of getting stuck in the next doldrums. But luckily we were spared for once and we headed upwind to the finishing cross in the direction of Antigua. One last beautiful sunset."
The HVS team on the "Haspa Hamburg" described the finale as follows: "Slowly the whole crew arrived on the edge and it was full concentration for the last miles. Everyone was motivated by an intense duel with the "Celeste of Solent". When the final "Tut" came at 11.06 pm and the finish was confirmed by radio, we were all extremely relieved. We were delighted to have successfully completed this special regatta together."
A total of 17 tasks showed how demanding this race is in the magnificent Caribbean regatta area, which was won by the American ORC 50 "Malolo" in the Multuhulls.
Dreaming pictures! Impressions of the RORC Caribbean 600:
And so the RORC Caribbean 600 was won this year:
