With 48 hours to go until the start of the Caribbean 600, there are lots of activity on the dockside of the Antigua Yacht Club. Our yacht , Hydrocarbon Logic ,a Beneteau First 50, is nearly ready to go with the crew making last minute preparations. The majority of the food was bought yesterday with the fresh food going on board tomorrow, ready for the start on Monday. All the racing sails have been checked, and re-checked, the safety inventory, mechanical maintenance, charts and the 1000 &1 other important jobs have been checked off the list and the team is eagerly awaiting the off.
The team comprises of some Sailing Logic stalwarts such as Brian Philips, the 70 year old that has yet to miss an offshore race with Sailing Logic for over 6 years – you go Brian! Alongside Brian we have Alice McMillan and Rob Nelson who raced Round Ireland and Round Britain & Ireland in 2010, plus the youngest member of the crew, 18 year old James Wilkie.
This race has been nicknamed Fastnet with shorts, as the race is a similar distance to the notorious Fastnet Race at 600 nMiles, but allows the crews to enjoy sunshine and breeze without the essential requirement of wet weather gear and boots. Shorts and t-shirts are the order of the day – oh how envious we are of all the teams!
Skipper of Hydrocarbon is Philippe Falle, Sailing Logic’s Racing Director. No stranger to offshore success, Philippe is really looking forward to this new adventure, racing his first Caribbean 600. Tim Thubron, one of Sailing Logic’s stable of top racing yachtsmen, is Philippe’s second in command, having skippered Hydrocarbon in the 2009 Fastnet race, so he is well placed to offer Philippe and the rest of the team his knowledge of the yacht and how to get the best from her.
The RORC Caribbean 600 is a new style of offshore yacht race, designed to test speed, agility and guile: more like a Formula One racetrack than a traditional windward leeward course.
When the gun goes at Fort Charlotte, Antigua on Monday 21st February, the racing crews will be pumped up with adrenalin to begin a high-speed adventure in arguably the best sailing grounds in the world. Warm breeze, day and night with big waves typify this race, making the central Caribbean a very special place to race.
