The images from the RORC Caribbean 600 are beautiful, the battles on the water thrilling. But for one of the three German crews the Caribbean race around eleven islands has come to an early end: Mathias Müller von Blumencron's "Red 2" has already arrived safely in the harbour of Falmouth on Antigua. Rudder damage has forced the crew of four to give up.
RORC Caribbean 600: Abandonment with rudder damage
Skipper Mathias Müller von Blumencron reported early in the morning on 26 February shortly before entering the safe harbour: "It's a great pity. We have to give up. Part of the lower rudder bracket has come loose, the shoe that holds the shaft in the notch on the hull. It's not dramatic and we've made a makeshift repair. But it threatens to damage the hull down there. That's why we're being careful. Another eight nautical miles to Falmouth."
The JPK 10.30 "Momo" (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and the Judel/Vrolijk 52 "Haspa Hamburg" (Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt) were still well in the running. In the IRC 2 division, Tobias Brinkmann's "Momo" crew is involved in an ongoing exciting top duel with the British Elan 450 2.05 "Team Scarlett on Emily". After the second night at sea, Ross Apllebey's now leading boat and the stubborn Hamburg chasers were separated by only around an hour.
In IRC Zero, the "Haspa Hamburg" was in fifth place on 26 February German time. Here too, three boats have already been eliminated. In the battle for line honours, however, the decision has already been made. The 27-metre-long US Juan K design "Lucky" crossed the finish line on Wednesday as "first ship home".
"Lucky" takes the line honours
With renowned professionals such as Ocean Race winner Charlie Enright and Juan Vila on board, Bryon Ehrhart's racer lived up to its status as favourite. As the fastest boat, they completed the RORC Caribbean 600 in just 1 day, 17 hours, 14 minutes and 12 seconds. However, "Lucky" was unable to beat the race record set by the US maxi "Rambler 88" in 2018. The monohull record for this 600-nautical-mile race remains the time set by "Rambler 88", which completed the 2018 Caribbean classic in 1 day, 13 hours, 41 minutes and 45 seconds.
At the same time, the Volvo Open 70 "Tschüss 2" and the Mills-Maxi 72 "Balthasar" battled for the calculated overall IRC victory on the final miles on the way to the finish on Wednesday morning. Both IRC Super Zero boats and other rivals seem to be able to keep the fast "Lucky" under control.
