12:30 hrs Thursday: Anyone who has done the Caribbean 600 will tell you that in a sometimes breezy one like the current staging, it’s the final long and almost inevitable beat from Redonda to the finish off Antigua that really tests crews.
The wonderful Mark Mill-designed Maxi 72 Balthasar, fresh from her win in the Round Antigua Race last week and still carrying the laurels of victory in October’s Middle Sea Race 2025, looked to have it in the bag as she thrashed along towards the finish at 14-15 knots, with all the numbers looking right for the overall win and just 15 miles to sail.
Then something broke to cause retiral. Details will follow when available. Meanwhile, in dock at the finish, the mighty veteran Leopard 3 in her 2026 version continues to hold the overall corrected time lead taken from Line Honurs winner Blackjack, but what’s news is that the 50ft “oversize scow” Palanad 4 – winner of the Transat last month – is second, albeit by 3.5 hours behind Leopard, while former RORC Commodore James Neville’s Ino Noir (which had a boat-breaking experience off the Blaskets in 2024’s Round Ireland) is close third ahead of Niklas Zennstromg’s Ran in fourth..
Surely they can’t all be on the right design track? The big scow Palanad close racing with a couple of the pointy ones in the current RORC Caribbean 600, in which she has finished second overall
In a race for the bigger boats, the J/122 Mojio from Pwlheli (Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox, is doing well to be third in IRC2 and 14th overall with 85 miles still to sail, while Sam Hall – also of PSC – is at 17th overall and 6th in IRC 1 with 64 miles to sail
Although a good foredeck crew will spend the absolute minimum of time on the foredeck, the extra space provided in the Mach 50 scow design of Palanad 4 is welcome extra workspace.
