The race was a lot harder than last year (2011). Hydrocarbon was a slightly larger / faster boat but the main difference was the weather. Last year the wind was a steady 20knots but the sun was out all the time. This year the wind started off at 12k and increased over the 3+ days to 20k, sunny only on day 1 cloudy with squals the rest of the race. In fact we had our first squal within 30mins of the race start - basically it sheets down for 5mins with the wind gusting up to 30/35k - very exciting!

This time we got an average start but were leading our class by the time we reached the first mark off Barbuda -dont know why I bother to tell you that, you have a better idea of where we were than I did. Anyway from then on there was little pressure from the rest of the boats in IRC 2.

Then after a day the guys that know about these things (or think they do) started speculating that maybe just maybe we could do well overall since the conditions would appear to favour a smaller boat.

Bear with me and I will try and explain.

As I said before the wind stated off at 12 and built to 20k over our race period. The big boats however go round the course in 2+ days whilst we took 3+ days so we had a greater proportion of the higher strength winds than they did. If that isnt clear dont bother - take my word for it.

Once this idea of doing well overall took hold the pressure came on - we were now racing against a clock, which is always much harder than against another boat. So now there was no real relaxation - when you can see the opposition 4 miles behind then you are conscious of them but confident.

Sleeping is always a problem on these boats since they are basically fitted out as cruisers - Scarlet Oyster has 3 cabins and a main saloon, the cabin at the front has the sails in it, the one at the back is the skippers with a double bed etc (which he doesnt use when racing), so we slept in the saloon and the small cabin in the middle - a total of 6 cots, 4 on one side, 2 on the other.

When sailing down wind the boat is flat and you can pretty much sleep where you like but sailing upwind has the boat heeled over at anything up to 30deg, so the idea is to keep the weight on the high side to try and flatten the boat out - you have all seen boats with the crew sat on the rail with legs over the side, well thats what they are trying to do. The same goes for sleeping - high side only.

Puma Logic, the Reflex 38, has 8 cots 4 either side which meant we split into 2 watches and there were enough bunks to do this. On SO we split into 3 watches of 4 guys each. The watches last for 3 hrs. The theory being that the "on" watch drives the boat, the "off" watch sleeps and the "standby" watch sides on the rail. I dont know whether you have ever tried to sleep when sat on the side of a boat with legs, arms and head outside the wire, bouncing up n down in an Atlantic swell, and having a large bucket of warm salt water thrown over you every 10 mins or so - but some people can. I cant!

So for me its bad enough having only 3 hrs off every 9, but then the added complication of only 2 bunks on the port side, plus the pressure of an overall win (the speculation had now reached the stage of a Place 1!) meant that sleep was not a priority, so much so that on Wed I only had 2hrs in 24.

So we raced very hard right to the end, only to find that after 600 miles and 3 and a half days we had missed Place 3 by 10mins and Place 2 by 25, with the consequence that instead of being elated at the finish with Place 1 in IRC 2 we felt flat. Mind you I have to say that we were also completely shattered and I for one always collapse mentally at the end of a race when the adreneline stops pumping.

That said it was a fantastic race - we had are own little match race with "Smile and Wave" all the way down to Guadalope. So much so that off St Maartens we were tacking to prevent them passing! They did briefly but we went back in front within the hour.

Lots of memories, mostly good!

Special thanks to my pit buddy Raiya.

Anyway great time - still very stiff n achey but lookin forward to St Maartens

Brian Phillips...

DAY 5 - Winners Decided: RORC Caribbean 600    

By Louay Habib    

It has been a busy 24 hours at the Antigua Yacht Club. At dawn on the fifth day of the RORC Caribbean 600, only three yachts were still at sea vying to complete the course before tonight's Prizegiving celebrations and all of the class winners are now provisionally decided. The bar at the Antigua Yacht Club has been in full swing, buzzing with stories between the crews and songs in a myriad of different languages.

Team Selene skippered by Benjamin Davitt finished yesterday morning. The Swan 80 sailed an excellent race to claim third place overall and will lift the prestigious Swan Caribbean Challenge Trophy later this evening.

Without doubt, the closest racing for this year's event was in IRC One. Colin Buffin's Swan 62, Uxorious IV, was first to finish, but the team did not celebrate a class win. Buffin and his young team knew that Amanda Hartley's Swan 56, Clem, was extremely close to eclipsing their corrected time. Just over three and half hours passed before Clem crossed the finish line to win the class by just 21 seconds on corrected time. There were ecstatic scenes dockside as the Spanish crew of Clem celebrated their class win. The entire crew of Uxorious IV including Colin Buffin sportingly applauded their rivals. Amanda Hartley spoke of their win.

"'We had no idea until we crossed the line and turned on our phones which went crazy with people calling in from Spain. By our calculation we thought we had lost out by five minutes. We got stuck at Guadeloupe for four hours and we could only sit and watch Uxorious get away. We are obviously extremely delighted and really appreciate Colin and his team coming over to give us such a lovely welcome back to Antigua."

Jaime Torres' Puerto Rican First 40, Smile And Wave, finished shortly after midnight last night to claim third in IRC One.

Scarlet Logic, co-skippered by Ross Applebey and Tim Thubron, finished the RORC Caribbean 600 shortly after 2300 last night. The Oyster 48, chartered by Sailing Logic, has been vying for the overall win for the last two days. In the end Scarlet Logic missed out, but the team had put in an incredible effort and have been rewarded with a convincing win in IRC Two. Scarlet Logic has the best corrected time in IRC One, Two and Three and as a result will be awarded the fantastic prize of a week's accommodation at the luxurious Inn at English Harbour.

"Fantastic, elated but bloody tired," admitted Tim Thubron, co-skipper of Scarlet Logic. The weather lined up nicely for us and we were aware that we were in with a chance of beating the big, well funded professional teams and that really spurred us on and made us push even harder. A lot of credit must go to the whole team, especially Ross Applebey. Scarlet was immaculately prepared and we hardly had a single breakage, however we did need to drop the main to replace a sail slide. The job was done and the main back up in eight minutes, that to me says it all."

There was joy and pain for both IRC Canting Keel and the Class40s. Ernesto Cortina's Volvo 70 Gran Jotiti finished the race in just over two days. The Spanish team is racing the yacht formerly known as Telefonica Black in the last Volvo Ocean Race. Ernesto spoke about his team shortly after finishing. "This has been a great experience, even though our result was badly affected by a lot of sail damage. Many of the sails are tired from thousands of miles of racing. However, the crew have been a joy to sail with and this race is helping us build for the future. Gran Jotiti's aim is to create a world class amateur Spanish offshore sailing team and we have learnt a lot through this race.

Ron O'Hanley's Cookson 50, Privateer, showed exceptional pace and boat handling throughout. Unfortunately the American team failed to start correctly and accepted a 10% penalty from the race organisers resulting in Gran Jotiti being declared winner of IRC Canting Keel.

The Class40s turned into a battle royale between Christophe Coatnoan's Partouche and Christof Petter's Vaquita. The two Class40s were locked in a heroic tacking duel for the final push to the finish line, a 40-mile beat from Redonda to the finish in Antigua.

Vaquita crossed the line just after sunset beating Partouche by a slender margin, just 15 minutes in a race lasting over 3 days. However, Vaquita failed to start the race correctly and to the Austrian crew's disappointment, the class win was awarded to Partouche: "It was a tough race and we had a couple of moments that really slowed us down," commented Christophe Coatnoan who raced two-handed with Eric Calmard. "We picked up a fishing float after Nevis without realising and we probably lost 8 miles before we knew it was there. Later at Guadeloupe, I had to dive into the water to free Partouche from yet another fishing buoy. The race was an excellent test for our new design especially for our sails as I think we used every one of them during the race."

Vaquita's Andreas Hanakamp commented: "Obviously we are disappointed to have been penalised but we were delighted with our performance. Partouche is a brand new Finot design, whilst Vaquita is a 2006 Akilaria. The RORC Caribbean 600 is a testing race course and a very tough race, exactly what we needed to prepare for our main competition of the season, The Atlantic Cup later this year."

The latest competitor to finish the RORC Caribbean 600 is Bernie Evan-Wong's Mumm 36, High Tension. Falmouth Harbour exploded with noise as the smallest yacht in the race tied up right outside the Antigua Yacht Club. Thunderous blasts from megayachts, superyachts and foghorns literally shook the dock as the whole of the sailing community in Falmouth heralded the arrival of local hero Bernie and his crew.

"I said we would be here tonight but I always like to be early for appointments," joked the Antiguan dentist. "It was a hard but satisfying race and the beat from Redonda to the finish seemed to take forever. We could see Antigua but it just didn't seem to be getting any bigger, however a few miles out a massive rain squall hit and veered the wind favourably for us to speed our way to Antigua. After last year's dismasting, I think maybe someone was looking out for us!"

Tonight the RORC Caribbean 600 Prizegiving Ceremony will take place at the Antigua Yacht Club. The two yachts still racing are Igor Zaretskiy's, First 40.7 Coyote II and the RACYC Offshore Racing Team - White Knight's Spirit of Venus. Both are expected to make tonight's party, which should be a momentous occasion.

Well, another early morning finish, but what a finish! Our victorious but very tired team crossed the finish line in Antigua at 11.06pm local time last night, or 03.06 GMT this morning. They have battled incredibly hard to finish amongst the best and fastest yachts in the world, and Scarlet Logic was only pipped to the ultimate prize, winning overall, by just a few minutes! However to even get close to the likes of RAN is a feat in itself – well done team!

However, most importantly they have won IRC Class 2 by a country mile, with Northern Child coming 2^nd. They have come in 2^nd place in the CSA Class (Caribbean Rating) to the 90 foot super-yacht Rambler – also a great achievement. As I write, Scarlet and Northern Child are the only 2 yachts in Class 2 to have finished so far. Scarlet is also the first yacht home offering individuals the chance to race in such a great event as this.

The prize-giving for the race is this evening, so I am sure after partying hard after their arrival, a few hours sleep and then back celebrating again, they will be having the time of their lives!

Another piece of silverware for the Sailing Logic cabinet – just fantastic! Well done to everyone on Scarlet Logic!

55 miles to go – and the beers are ready and waiting!

Scarlet has had another great day of champagne sailing round the Island of Antigua and chasing the best time possible. She is currently leading the CSA class and the IRC Class 2, and is second in the IRC overall championships. No news from the boat today but they must be very busy having the times of their lives! The weather currently is perfect: blue skies, azure seas, stiff breeze from the right direction, and beers already ordered, waiting at the bar!

Scarlet is heading towards the last mark of the course called Redonda at over 9 knots, and is now some 13 miles ahead of Smile and Wave. Once rounding Redonda, Scarlet will then be beating again towards the finish line, which means she will have to take a longer course as she can’t sail a direct route. At the moment, I believe her estimated time over the line should be in about 9 hours time which is 2.30am Friday GMT/UTC and 10.30pm Antiguan time..... yet again, another Sailing Logic yacht will finish a major offshore race in the dark! It always happens!

News from the fleet today is that there has been 5 retirements to date, everyone ok, mainly mechanical failures and problems. Next yacht to finish will be Uxorious IV, a British 62 foot Swan, well done to them!

Another update to follow this evening....

Scarlet Logic has had a great run overnight and are waking up this morning to see Antigua ahead of them and only 129 miles to go to the finish line, so we believe they should cross the line sometime later today.

They have scorched round Guadeloupe after their little wind hole experience, and have pulled out a 9 mile lead over Smile and Wave, with whom they were having a big tussle with yesterday. They have also managed to increase the gap between themselves and Solent rivals EH01 to over 25 miles; we believe Scarlet is the leading non-professionals yacht in the race which is still great!

On the leader board, Scarlet is still leading IRC Class 1 by some margin but had dropped to 5^th in IRC Overall, as some of the yachts ahead have finished and posted a time. It is not confirmed yet that the positions in IRC overall are  set in stone, so Scarlet could still better her 5^th place at the moment, so go, Scarlet, go!

We have not heard form the yacht today, which means that they must be working hard trying to get every last tiny bit of speed out of her.......

Line honours went to the biggest yacht in the Race, Hetairos, who although did not beat the record set 2 years ago by Rambler 100, still managed to get round in under 3 days, which is awesome. With over 30 crew onboard, they must have had to have had a very big galley!

Scarlet’s victualling (food)  was organised by Rosie Danby, girlfriend of Ross, who spent days cooking and freezing meals so that the crew could eat as well as possible whilst racing, without actually having to cook nmeals from scratch. Good food is very important when racing offshore, not only for energy but also for morale, so many thanks to Rosie for her efforts.