For three days over the bank holiday weekend, the yachting world's eyes will be glued to the Solent as the Fast 40+ class makes its debut en masse at the Royal Ocean Racing Club's domestic season opener, the RORC Easter Challenge.

Between eight and 10 Fast 40+s will be competing and with the fleet expected to grow to 14 this summer, pundits are observing that this class represents the most competitive homegrown handicap inshore keelboat racing the UK has seen since the heyday of the Admiral's Cup.

To those unfamiliar with the Fast 40+, effectively it does what it says on the tin: Boats have an IRC TCC of 1.210-1.270 (although a lower limit of 1.191 is permitted for 2016). To put this into context, original Ker 40s such as Hooligan and Baraka GP represent the slowest, while Peter Morton's brand new Carkeek 40 Mk3, Girls on Film, is at the upper limit, along with American Bill Coates' Ker 43, Otra Vez, and Sir Keith Mills' Ker 40+, Invictus.

Otherwise Fast40+s must have:

- Hull length (LH) of 12.00-12.60m LOA (*<13.3m)
- Maximum draft of 3m (*3.15m)
- Displacement:length ratio of <90 (*<110 and <124 for 2016 season)
- Speed ratio of TCC²/LH =0.125< (*0.120< and 0.117< for 2016)
- Owner-driver
- 11 crew with a maximum weight of 950kg
- Up to five ISAF Cat 3 'pros' on board

*if launched before 1st September 2015.

Class rules have been broadened for this season to allow more boats in.

"I think it is a natural fit - we aren't trying to force anything, it has just evolved," explains Robert Greenhalgh, who is Fast40+ Class President. "It has taken a couple of years, but to get - all being well - 10 boats at the Easter Challenge, plus some new ones rolling in this season, is fantastic. All the owners have remained positive and are keen for it."

And the boats are fast. Greenhalgh, a former 18ft skiff and International 14 World Champion, and a Volvo Ocean Race winner, competes on Sir Keith Mills' Invictus. "The boat regularly hits 20 knots. We saw 23 last year when it was windy."

The largest contingent of Fast 40+s are former GP42s. At present three are entered in the Easter Challenge - South African Mike Bartholomew's Tokoloshe II, Mark Rijkse's 42° South and Tony Dickin's Jubilee. The GP42 was originally the smaller, no less high tech brother of the TP52 and competed on the Audi MedCup briefly over 2009-2010.

On the secondhand market you get a lot of bang for your buck with a GP42, as South African Mike Bartholomew found when, just over two years ago, he acquired Tokoloshe II. This Botin & Carkeek design, as Madrid, won the final GP42 MedCup season.

"I think it is great for the development of the sport generally, because it has created a lot of enthusiasm," says Bartholomew of the Fast40+. "And this enthusiasm hopefully will be carried on to other classes as well. Last year there were three or four boats, but this year there is going to be at least 12, so it should be great fun."

Bartholomew adds that he enjoys the speed of his boat, but the racing is also ultra-competitive. "That was illustrated at Cowes Week last year, racing against Invictus and Rebellion. In one race, after four hours, we crossed the line within seconds of each other, having sailed the whole race changing lead and being in very close contract - it's like dinghy racing."
Tokoloshe Easter 2015 PW
South African Mike Bartholomew's Tokoloshe II - © RORC/Paul Wyeth - pwpictures.com

Having successfully campaigned his Corby 36, James Neville has graduated up to the Fast40+ acquiring Richard Matthews' Oystercatcher XXX, a Judel-Vrolijk designed HH42. With a TCC of 1.228, INO XXX has the lowest rating of the Fast40+s competing at the RORC Easter Challenge.

"We are really looking forward it - to have 10 similar boats out, all taking it pretty seriously it really exciting," says Neville. "The HH42 is a little bit heavier and rates a bit better and should perform in the higher ranges."

In swapping boats, Neville has also had to increase the size of his crew from eight to 11, but enjoys the HH42's speed, having already touched 24 knots.

While boat contact with team RIBs is normally prohibited in the Fast40+, this rule has been eased for the RORC Easter Challenge as the class enters into the spirit of the event being the RORC's season shake-down, training regatta.

With Easter falling very early this year, so far there has been little opportunity for training, so teams are welcoming this event too. Neville is a Easter Challenge regular and acknowledges the worth of the free world class coaching it offers from legends such as Jim Saltonstall to America's Cup veterans such as RORC CEO Eddie Warden Owen and Andreas Josenhans of North U. Regatta Services. "We could be a bit rusty, but the coaches do a good job."

Racing at the RORC Easter Challenges takes place over 25-27th March with must-attend post-race debriefs occurring daily at the RORC Cowes clubhouse, chocolate egg prizes on offer as well as high level coaching on the water and a socially acceptable finish time on Easter Sunday.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) in London says a 'correction is needed' over information contained in an article following an ORC presentation at the ICRA Conference in Limerick, a week ago. Michael Boyd, the Commodore of RORC, says the offshore body 'read with interest', and 'some confusion', the press release by the ORC. Boyd says he feels 'very strongly' that information put forward by Dobbs Davis, Chairman of ORC’s Promotion and Development Committee, 'needs correcting'.

In a statement issued by RORC, who administer the rival IRC system, the club says: 

First, the numbers presented are wrong. Dobbs quotes the number of ORC certificates in total up until the end of the year, but only quotes the number of boats in IRC until the end of August of 2015. These are very different figures. Dobbs quotes 4958 for IRC in 2015 but the real number of certificates for the whole year is 7721. That makes the graph look very different and makes IRC the largest individual system in 2015 with ORC Club behind it at 7404 and ORCi trailing at 2492.

It should also be noted that both IRC and ORC are International Rating Systems recognised by World Sailing and IRC is currently in discussions with World Sailing about having its own World Championship. Rather than having two world championships for offshore boats, we are supporting the WS initiative to have one jointly scored IRC/ORC world championship which will allow the event to travel to other continents.

IRC is expanding with new territories in India and Taiwan, growth in Japan and China and very encouraging numbers for the start of the year from many Northern European countries.

IRC is also flexible and not limited to using time-on-time scoring - as has also been suggested. A simple time-on-distance calculation can be applied to create a time-on-distance value, should race organisers want to use it. Similarly, crew number or crew weight can be applied depending on the race organiser’s needs and wishes.

IRC is doing a great job for our sport – you only have to look at the style of boats that have developed since the demise of IMS (the basis of ORC) to understand that IRC is a progressive rule – with the latest generation of boats being fast, safe and fun to sail. Our goal is to ensure that we provide a first class service and develop a product that is constantly evolving to make sure that racing under IRC is as fair as is possible.

- Michael Boyd, Commodore, ROYAL OCEAN RACING CLUB

The RORC Easter Challenge is the opening event for a long season of offshore racing. Designed as a 'training whilst racing' regatta, the RORC Easter Challenge is a great way to blow away the winter cobwebs and get world class on-the-water coaching from a team of experienced sailors under the guidance of Jim Saltonstall, and includes the North U Regatta Services coaching team from the USA.

Offshore Championship
April sees the start of the domestic RORC Season's Points Championship with the opening offshore race, the Cervantes Trophy from Cowes to Le Havre on the 30th April. The Cervantes is followed by the North Sea Race from Harwich to Scheveningen on the 6th May and the very popular De Guingand Bowl which is a coastal race around marks in the Channel on 14th May. The Cervantes Trophy and De Guingand Bowl races will form part of the British team selection trails for the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup in July.

RORC continue to experiment with Virtual Marks
As with ISORA, this season the RORC will continue to develop its experience with virtual marks. In an effort to even out the tidal effect on a yacht the RORC will vary the length of the course to suit different size and speed of yachts. Faster boats will sail a greater distance than smaller boats and the results will be based on average speed.

"This is a new initiative the club is trying in a couple of races this year," said RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott. "The legs of the courses can be set in the same direction but with increased mileage for the faster boats; the hope being that boats sail in the same tidal conditions for a similar amount of time making the result fairer."

Busy season continues
The busy month of May continues with the Myth of Malham race on the 28th; a race from Cowes, around the Eddystone lighthouse off Plymouth and back to Cowes. This replicates the first part of a typical Fastnet race and is very popular.

June has the Morgan Cup Race to Dieppe or for those seeking more adventure or the challenge of a classic offshore course; the Volvo Round Ireland Race on 18 June. The 704nm circumnavigation of Ireland is rewarded in the Points Championship with a 1.4 points factor, fitting for the tough course taking in the exposed Atlantic coast before pitching you into the Irish Sea. Starting and finishing in Wicklow the welcome will be warm and hospitable.

Cowes Week at the beginning of August is the highlight of the season for our club in Cowes. There are a host of social events being run for members and guests, including cocktail parties on Saturday 6th and Wednesday 10th and the annual 'Corinthian Ball' on Tuesday night, and firework party on Friday night.

New Race in RORC Programme
Following Cowes Week is the new Île d'Ouessant Race from Cowes to St Malo via the Wolf Rock and around Ushant on the north west corner of France. This 400nm race has already attracted much interest and looks likely to become a regular fixture in the RORC Calendar in a non-Fastnet year.

The beginning of September sees the culmination of a very busy season with the final offshore, the Cherbourg Race on 2nd September; an overnight sprint from Cowes to Cherbourg.

Cork Week is aiming to return to its glory days in July with amibitious plans for the event revealed this lunchtime at a regatta launch on board Irish Naval Service vessel, LE Roisin writes Claire Bateman.

Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney took time out from a busy political schedule to attend today's ceremony in Cork Harbour. 

Held on a biennial basis by Royal Cork Yacht Club, Volvo Cork Week is one of Ireland's Grand Prix sailing events. It takes place from July 10th to 15th, and primarily attracts sailors for the quality of its racing.

As previously reported by Afloat.ie, this year’s racing includes a new event, the IRC European Championships, which will be an event in itself, based on the platform of Volvo Cork Week. The first edition of the RORC IRC National Championship took place in 2000, and has done so every year since. There are now seven IRC National Championships throughout the world, but up until now, there has been no continental event.

Mark Whitaker and Adrian Yeates of Volvo with Royal Cork's John Roche and Kieran O'Connell on the LE Roisin. Photo: Bob Bateman

Cork Week Chairman, Kieran O’Connell said he was feeling very confident that Volvo Cork Week 2016 will be a unique and exciting event, both on and off the water. 'It is a great achievement for Ireland to be given the chance to host an event of this calibre and we need to make it an event that will set the standard for future years'.

Some of the boats already entered include Anthony O’Leary’s new Ker 40 Antix. Anthony has been Captain of the Irish Commodores Cup Team on two occasions and has enjoyed successes too numerous to mention here. Tim Goodbody’s new J109 White Mischief from the RIYC will be showing her paces, The Tingle families’ new Alpaca X34 will also compete in their new X34. Ronan Harris from the RIYC will sail his J109 Jiga Maree, Paul O’Higgins also RIYC and another very well known and successful sailor has also entered. Kinsale YC Commodore Tom Roche will sail Meridian a Salona 45. Charlie Frize formerly a 1720 sailor will sail his Mills 36 from The Clyde Royal Northern and Clyde Y.C. French sailor Eric Gicquel will sail ‘Black Jack’ from Saint Malo.

The intention is for the IRC European Championships to be held at a different European location annually. The fact that the Royal Cork Yacht Club has been selected to host this inaugural IRC European Championship is a huge honour and reflects the esteem in which the entire Volvo Cork Week Organising Committee are held. As Afloat.ie reported earlier, this year’s event will also feature the inaugural Beaufort Cup, which invites sailing teams from their associated national services to race. The Beaufort Cup, supported by the Irish Defence Forces and part of a series of Irish Government commemorative events in 2016, hopes to develop bonds between national team members and international colleagues: 50% of each team must be active in any service they represent and it is anticipated that defence force teams from a number of countries will compete and also other services such as Police, Fire, Rescue, RNLI and Coastguard.

Minister Coveney, himself a life long member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club announced the official launch. He gave a very interesting talk On the Beaufort Cup. He also said how much he would like to sail in Cork Week 2016 but that would depend on how busy he might be at the time. The smile on his face said it all and he got a great cheer and applause for that. He has the gift of always speaking in a most interesting way and today was no exception He also spoke about his three special interests, Cork Harbour, Sailing and the Navy. Also present amongst the distinguished gathering was the French Ambassador to Ireland, Monsieur Jean Pierre Thébault, who also spoke very interestingly about the Beaufort Cup and its history and connections with France and Cork. Major General Kieran Brennan of the Beaufort Cup, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, also spoke about the Beaufort Cup and it surely appears this is going to create great interest during Volvo Cork Week. Also present was Colonel Max Walker, British Defence Attaché, representing the British Ambassador to Ireland His Excellency Nicholas Chilcott.

Representing the Royal Cork Yacht Club were Admiral John Roche, Vice Admiral Captain Pat Farnan, Hon Treasurer, Pat Harte, Rear Admiral Dinghies Stephen O’Shaughnessy, Simon Brewitt, Chair Marina and Facilities Committee and Michelle D’Arcy, Chair Bar, House and Communications Committee. Also returning in her capacity as co-ordinator of Cork Week is April English.

Taking over as Director of Racing for 2016 will be Royal Cork’s well known and Ronan Enright with Mike O’Connor, International Judge, acting as PRO.

Mark Whitaker, CEO of Johnson & Perrott Motor Group commented, “Johnson & Perrott Mahon Point is delighted to once again partner with Volvo and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in supporting this high calibre event in the international racing calendar. Volvo Cork Week is a fantastic regatta that combines both serious competition and fun and which contributes very significantly to the sport of sailing and to the local economy.”

“With competitor interest at a high level, our team are looking forward to what promises to be yet another outstanding week for sailors and spectators alike” added Mr Whitaker, who himself is an experienced sailor and long-time member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

In addition to top class racing, the fabled on-shore tented village lets all crews interact socially in a fun way, which has become one of the main ingredients in the success of Volvo Cork Week. Saturday will see the family fun day to be held in the Village of Crosshaven with a myriad of events to attract all the members of the family and this will be attended by Dermot Bannon of RTE’s ‘Room to improve’. On Sunday the RNLI luncheon will take place and this will be hosted by RTE’s Francis Brennan of ‘At Your Service’.

Adrian Yeates, Managing Director of Volvo Car Ireland commented "Volvo Car Ireland, are looking forward to what promises to be a very exciting event in Crosshaven this Summer. This is the second year that Volvo, in conjunction with Johnson and Perrott Motor Group, will be the title sponsor of Volvo Cork Week, thus celebrating our continued relationship with sailing in Ireland and throughout the world.”

The overnight leader, George Sakellaris’s Vrolik-designed Maxi 72 Proteus, is confirmed as winner of the RORC Caribbean 600 at noon today (Thursday) as time runs out for smaller craft still battling against wayward conditions further back along this cat’s cradle of a course writes W M Nixon

Of all the Irish sailors involved, it is RORC Commodore Michael Boyd of the RIYC who is currently showing best in fleet, for although the Grand Soleil 48 Belladonna which he is navigating for Andy McIrvine still has 43 miles to sail to the finish, barring accidents they could find themselves sitting on 11th overall with an excellent class place when they get to Antigua.

Adrian Lee’s Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners may have got herself in the happy position of being 8th overall last night as she was making good speed at 14 knots, but by the time she finished after 3 days 11 hours and 52 minutes for the 617 miles course, they were back in 16th overall under the general position estimates.

However, in an event with multiple-choice rating systems, Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam is flying. She’s back in the lead in IRC Class 3, she continues to be second in CSA 2, and though she’s 20th overall in IRC, she’s looking good for silverware in class, even if the Howth crew still have 87 miles to sail.

Fourteen miles ahead of Bam, the other Howth crew with Kieran Jameson & Co on Southern Child had a reasonably good night of it, and though they may be 24th overall in IRC, they’re fourth in IRC 2 and 4th in CSA 2.

But among boats well known to Afloat.ie readers, the star of the show has to be Eric de Turkheim of France’s highly individual-looking Commodore’s Cup contender Teasing Machine. She’s one busy boat. He was well in the frame in the recent Sydney-Hobart, and being a 13 metre boat, it was easier to get her shipped quickly from Australia to America than was the case with the hundred foot Comanche, which only arrived at the start with only a day or two to spare. Teasing Machine meanwhile had everything nicely in hand, and now she’s sailed a blinder of an RORC Caribbean 600, sitting well finished in port and firmly placed third overall on the IRC leaderboard in a race which otherwise favoured larger craft.

UPDATE 2200hrs: The RORC Caribbean 600 continues to be a race of swings and roundabouts as different boats come to the fore depending on which part of this multi-island course they’re sailing along writes W M Nixon. There are stages where the only encouragement is in maintaining your class position, and this Wednesday evening at 2200 hrs, Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam from Howth Yacht Club has the excellent consolation for the Irish squad of leading CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association) Division 2, and holding on to second in IRC Class 3, despite slipping to 24th in the IRC overall rankings.

The big news may well be that Adrian Lee’s reliable steed, the Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners, from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, seems finally to have got her skates on, and she was pushing towards 14 knots to be lying 8th overall in IRC – her best placing to date in this year’s race – to have her second in the IRC canting keel division with 57 miles to go to the finish.

The situation is completely different back down the line off Guadeloupe, where Kieran Jameson & Co on the First 40 Southern Child are none too happy at barely 6 knots, and they’re back at 29th overall, though in the kindly CSA 2 they’re lying third in class.

At the top of the leaderboard, the Maxi 72s Proteus (George Sakellaris) and Momo (Diter Schoen) are finished and looking good for IRC first and second overall, but Piet Vroon’s Tonnere 4 is just 24 miles from the finish and could pip Momo yet, though Proteus looks secure.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for Jim and Kristy Clark’s mega maxi Comanche. They went to an awful lot of trouble to get the big fat girl back from the Sydney-Hobart in time to do this race. And for sure, they did take the mono-hull line honours this morning. But their elapsed time was 33 minutes outside the course record set by George David’s Rambler 100 in 2011. That’s the very same Rambler which made an unscheduled visit to Baltimore in August of that year, when her canting keel decided to go walkabout at the Fastnet Rock. 33 minutes. Ouch.

Hurtling around the Caribbean at speeds in excess of 30 knots and topping out nearer 40, often barely a boat length apart, the epic duel between MOD70s Concise 10 and Phaedo3 came to a conclusion after 32 hours of hot racing. Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70 Phaedo3, co-skippered by Brian Thompson crossed the finish line at Fort Charlotte in an elapsed time of 31 hours, 59 minutes, 04 seconds, breaking their own multihull race record set last year by 1 hour 34 minutes 26 seconds.

Barely out of sight of each other the entire race, Tony Lawson's MOD70 Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield was just 9mins 52 seconds behind. The superyachts in Falmouth Harbour heralded the arrival of Phaedo3 and Concise 10 with a cacophony of horns as hundreds of race fans gathered dockside to cheer the two teams to the dock.

Lloyd Thornburg, Owner/Skipper Phaedo3: "Since we set the record last year we have got a lot better; our manoeuvres are improved and we are sailing a better course. We made a few mistakes out there which we will correct next time but this is the best group of sailors I have sailed with. There is nobody I would rather sail with than this group of guys; I am so happy. We weren't thinking about the record at any stage because we were so focused on match racing Concise. We had to dig deep and they were doing the same and they gave us a hell of a race. We were nervous and never comfortable."

Pete Cumming Phaedo3 Trimmer: "Upwind we were struggling to answer some of their questions. They were higher and faster than us and no matter what we did we found it hard to match them, but by the last beat we had figured it out. But they gave us a big scare because if you find a speed edge in these boats it is not a fraction of a knot, it is more like two knots. Those guys are getting faster all the time, they are smart guys and they put up a good fight and we will need to keep upping our game."

Brian Thompson Phaedo3 Co-Skipper: "I didn't know we had broken the record until we had crossed the line. Breaking the record by over an hour and a half just shows you that we have come along and improved because the weather was lighter this year. Also with the help of our fellow competitor Concise, they pushed us really hard, so we went even faster than last year. The Phaedo Team is so much more improved than last year and that includes Lloyd who is now a really good helmsman. He did the start, the first beat and much of the race. He is a superb driver and this is a tricky boat to sail. This is a great win and to come back to this crowd is special for me because I grew up sailing in Antigua and I have seen it develop, so to have all the horns blaring on arrival was a magic moment."

Michel Desjoyeaux, Concise 10: " The level of sailing of Team Concise is pretty good. They have only been sailing the boat for six month and they are learning very fast. So we have been working on some special functions and tasks, including sail trim and balance of the boat. Phaedo3 won the race, congratulations to them, but we had some opportunities to close the gap which we took but it was not enough. It was a good contest and if you don't want to be part of that, then you shouldn't race.

Ned Collier Wakefield, Skipper Concise 10: "That was a brilliant race but also a frustrating result. They have a downwind mode that we haven't got and vice-versa upwind. We certainly learnt a lot and it was great sailing with Michel (Desjoyeaux), so lots to learn from this. We did 600 miles in 31 hours and we are still in shorts and t-shirts - a bit damp, but it has been fantastic! These boats are absolutely incredible, amazing machines; to chew up the miles like that and be back for beers on the second day is unbelievable. Many thanks to the RORC for laying on a great race and thanks to all of the people that support us."

Steve Benjamin (USA), winner of the Fireball Worlds at Kinsale in 1977, has been among those sitting in first place overall in IRC during Day 2 of the RORC Caribbean 600 writes W M Nixon. Racing his TP 52 Spookie, Benjamin was showing ahead for quite a respectable interval this afternoon with the likes of Dieter Schoen’s Maxi 72 Momo, Piet Vroon’s Ker 51 Tonnere 4, and Hap Fauth’s 72ft Bella Mente tucked nicely astern on calculated placings.

But with such a convoluted course taking in so many islands both to windward and leeward, predicted final positions aren’t quite so convincing as they are with more straightforward routes such as the Fastnet or the Sydney-Hobart. In fact, there are stages when you might well think the suggested finishing order is a case of having something for everyone in the audience.

Nevertheless although the annual race has only been in being since 2009, we’re beginning to see a cohort of “Old Caribbean 600 Hands” beginning to emerge, and they reckon to see a pattern developing which narrows the final choice to a battle between ten or so boats.

But as of 2200 hrs this Tuesday evening Irish time, we found that Spookie has slipped back to ninth just behind Bella Mente and Momo, with Tonnere still well in touch in 12th, but then a further check some minutes later had Bella Mente leading with Proteus second, Momo third, and Spookie 7th.

As for the Irish contenders, Kieran Jameson and friends on the First 40 Southern Child from Howth Yacht Club were in third in IRC 2 and 18th overall, Bam (Conor Fogerty) is two places behind them overall in 20th and has slipped one place to second in IRC 3, while Adrian Lee’s Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners – first overall in 2009 at the finish - lies 25th overall

And somewhere way beyond the blue horizon, on the other side of an island are two, the on-the-water leaders are the two Mod 70s Phaedo 3 (Lloyd Thornburg) and Concise 10 (Med Collier wakefield) – Phaedo has persistently stayed just a couple of miles ahead, and as of 2216 hrs she has just 20 miles to the finish, Concise has 22, and they’re definitely in a different world from the rest of the fleet.

Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam from Howth currently leads IRC 3 in the RORC Caribbean 600 which started today off Antigua, with the international fleet of 77 boats taking off around eleven islands in the sun in classic conditions writes W M Nixon at 2200 hrs Monday.

Overall however, Bam – pushing towards 9 knots with the first turn at Barbuda astern – lies 20th in a fleet in which the current IRC leader is Piet Vroons’ Ker 51 Tonnere 4, having taken over the IRC front runner slot from Dieter Schoen’s Maxi 72 Momo, fresh into the Caribbean as the best big boat in the 2015 Fastnet. She is second on IRC Overall, and is currently racing just ahead of Hap Fauth’s Maxi 72 Bella Mente with another 72 Jethou (Peter Ogden) lying third.

Of the other two Irish boats, Adrian Lee’s Cookson 50 Lee Overlay partners currently heads Bam overall, as the Dun Laoghaire boat is 15th in fleet, while Kieran Jameson and his team on the First 40 Southern Child are placed 33rd overall.

At the front end of the fleet and already in a world of their own are the MOD 70 trimarans, with Lloyd Thornburg’s Phaedo showing the way by three miles on Ned Collier Wakefield’s Concise 10, both of them sitting on better than 20 knots.

HYC's Brian Turvey on board Southern Child (GBR 8405) adds:

Following 3 days of 'climatisation' in the wonderful hot weather and warm hospitality of Antigua, the crew of Southern Child finally set out and hit the start line at 11:00 on Monday morning. The race was started in a 15-knot East-Southeasterly breeze, providing the 70 competitors with a long starboard fetch along the southern coastline before the usual bear-away and northward track to the Barbuda mark.
With no air conditioning on this First 40 and a lot of sweaty Irishmen oozing the excesses of Caribbean revelry, the following breeze on the track northwards offered welcome air in the cabin once the watch-system commenced at 2pm. A 2-hour 'conditioning watch' allowed the split teams to get used to the systems in the afternoon, followed by a transition to 3-hour watches at 6pm.

The 215–foot 'Adix' pictured to leeward of HYC helm Colm 'Bermo' Bermingham and Frank 'Buller' Dillon on Southern Child

It was clear from the beginning that Frank 'Buller' Dillon was the most chilled-out member of the team and even when confronted with the news that the ice had run out at the welcoming party in Antigua Yacht Club, he rationalised that "the rum was purer!" Whilst still somewhat of a mystery in terms of its origin, Frank's nickname ('Buller') belies his relaxed demeanour in these latitudes and he was one of the many Irish sailors who enjoyed the warm greeting on the welcome night in AYC, including a special 'Cead mile failte' (Irish for 'one hundred thousand welcomes') given to them by RORC Commodore Micheal Boyd from the outdoor stage and to a tumoultous cheer.
With the exception of owner Lucy Reynolds, all of the crew of Southern Child are members of Howth Yacht Club in Ireland and form part of a 2-boat team with 'Bam', the other Howth entry a division below in Class 3.
Southern Child was steered past St Kitts and St Nevis late on Monday night by crew member Colm 'Bermo' Bermingham under the brilliant light of a Caribbean full moon, completing the first day of racing and within 500 metres of almost all boats in IRC Class 2. The night time temperature barely dropped to 26 degrees Celcius and with an 18-knot wind pushing us through schools of small dolphins in the very warm moonlit Eastern Caribbean Sea, might it be possible that it might continue like this...?

A record fleet of 70 yachts will be competing in the eighth edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 starting from Antigua this morning. There's a sizeable Irish contingent racing and they are previewed here.

This year's race will see the most spectacular line-up of high performance boats racing anywhere in the world.

The crew list, say RORC, reads like the 'Who's Who' of elite international sailors with hundreds of round the world, Olympic and Volvo Ocean Race professionals rubbing shoulders with passionate corinthian sailors on the same 600 nmile race course around 11 Caribbean islands.