Wednesday 22 February, Antigua
ROYAL OCEAN RACING CLUB
20 ST JAMES'S PLACE, LONDON SW1A 1NN
DAY 3 - Hetairos Victorious, Rán Count the Minutes
Race Report: Louay Habib, Antigua
The 214ft superyacht Hetairos skippered by Vincent Fauquenoy, crossed the finish
line in Antigua on Wednesday 22nd February 2012, completing the RORC Caribbean
600 in an elapsed time of 2 days 2 hours 39 minutes and 32 seconds to claim Line
Honours. The monumental ketch was well outside the record time set by Rambler 100
last year, however the international team aboard Hetairos were all smiles as they
were greeted by well-wishers and a cacophony of horns from megayachts in Falmouth
Harbour.
Hetairos navigator, South African Marc Lagesse modestly admitted to being somewhat
taken aback with their achievement:
"I have to say, I am genuinely surprised that we were the first yacht home. I honestly
thought that we wouldn't take Line Honours before the race. Hetairos and especially
her sails are not optimized for racing on a course like the '600. Also I thought
that from a navigators point of view, I got a few calls not quite right. However,
we did have a few decisions work out for us by chance and I would always say it
is better to be lucky than good! For example, we went inshore behind Guadeloupe,
to change a sail in flat water and by chance we got a big lift in there. Last year
I did this race on a Class40 in a lot of wind, so I have experienced some big contrasts
but I really enjoyed this race, an illustrious fleet with great people and a big
atmosphere."
Hetairos were pushed hard all the way by George David's 90ft maxi, Rambler. It was
not until half way through the race that Hetairos managed to pass Rambler. The all
star American team put in a fantastic performance but could not match the pace of
an opponent over twice their size.
George David spoke candidly shortly after the race:
"It was great to get back in the saddle for a 600-mile race after the Fastnet, and
to hold out so long on that course against Hetairos required a magnificent effort.
On corrected time, it was never going be easy to win. Rambler 90 was launched in
2002 and hull design and stability has improved significantly since then so it
was not just the size that we were up against. However, Mick (Harvey) is a great
project manager and Norm (David Petersen) is a great Boat Captain and all the guys
are just so much fun to sail with."
Niklas Zennstrom's JV72, Rán was the next yacht home, less than an hour behind Rambler
to claim the overall lead after time correction in the 2012 RORC Caribbean 600.
Rán know that there can be no celebration yet, but Rán has set the bar very high
indeed. As the reindexing yachts battle it out on the course, Team Rán must wait
until this fascinating race plays out. Several yachts are very much in contention
to beat Rán's corrected time.
Rán's owner and principle helmsman, Niklas Zennstrom looked tired but full of joy
after completing a race that he has wanted to do for some time:
"The whole of Team Rán have been looking forward to this race for a while. We have
wanted to do this race since 2009. A few of the crew have done the race before,
Jeremy Robinson on Leopard for example and he was able to give a lot of input before
the race. But Ado (Stead) and Steve (Hayles) have not competed in the '600 before,
so it has been somewhat new territory for us, which is always exciting. It is a
complex course, more like a series of coastal races. However, I think the reason
I was attracted to the race so much was that we enjoyed Antigua Sailing Week and
the idea of an offshore race in the Caribbean was very appealing. Any 600-mile yacht
race is hard but the fantastic conditions and beautifully weather makes this one
even more satisfying. The close reach down to Guadeloupe from St.Barths was very
memorable, fast reaching conditions in beautiful surroundings, some of the best
sailing you can imagine."
Just after sunset, Olivier Vigoureux's one-off trimaran Paradox came to rest after
over two days of blasting around the Caribbean. The weather-gods did not smile on
the team and Region Guadeloupe's multihull record was never really in doubt, but
the crew of Paradox should be delighted to claim the winner's trophy for the Multihull
Class this year. Hopefully their exploits will encourage a bigger fleet of multihulls
next year, spearing through the Caribbean at break neck speed is surely every multihull
sailor's dream.
ENDS/....
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