Noon 25-02-26: The track-chart of the annual RORC Caribbean 600 looks to the casual observer like some weird variant of Snakes & Ladders, and for many participants this multi-turn course provides S&L (or should it be S&M?) in spades.
Glorious leads can disappear in local island-induced flat patches, but equally an area’s minor wind direction shift can turn a slugging beat into a powering close reach. And whatever the conditions found in the early stages, they suited Sam Hall of Pwllheli and his crew in the veteran (vintage if you prefer) 1997-designed Pacific sled type J/125 Jackknife.
For long periods, they were tramping along in style, lying either first or second overall. But as the size differences of the bigger boats causes a fleet spread and increasing experience of favourable local conditions, good early placings get battered about.
At the time of writing towards noon on Wednesday, 25-02-26, the multi-hull leaders are already in, with the MD70 Argo taking line honours to demonstrate yet again what splendid old war horses these boats are.
Current Caribbean 600 overall IRC leader Balthasar is a Mark Mills design which the owner altered by changing to a twin rudder configuration=
On down the line, the 100ft Black Jack has taken Monohull Line Honours, closely followed by SuperMaxi Leopard 3. But on corrected time it looks as though Balthasar (designed by Mark Mills, but subsequently owner-altered to be the first Mills boat with twin rudders) will hold the lead as things stand.
With 255 miles still to sail, the J/122 Mojito from Pwllheli continues her steady showing in this year’s Caribbean racing, as she lies sixth overall and third in IRC. But things haven’t continued quite as smoothly for the higher-rated Jackknife, for though she’s nine miles ahead of Mojito, she is currently shown as 11th overall, though that places her as third in IRC1.
