Caribbean 600 line honors to Argo

Jason Carroll’s MOD70 Argo (USA) has taken Multihull Line Honors in the 2024 Caribbean 600 in an elapsed time of 01 Day 08 Hrs 08 Mins and 40 Secs. Finishing at 19:38:40, Argo was raced byJason Carroll, Weston Barlow, Chad Corning, Pete Cumming, Sam Goodchild, Chris Maxted, Charlie Ogletree, and Brian Thompson.

Erik Maris’ MOD70 Zoulou (FRA) was the second boat to finish, crossing the line 19 minutes behind Argo after over 32 hours of racing. Alexia Barrier’s MOD70 Limosa – The Famous Project (FRA), co-skippered by Dee Caffari, completed the Multihull Line Honors podium, finishing the race less than four hours behind Argo.

“This year’s race is like any other; it isn’t over until the final beat,” commented Carroll. “We may not have had many lead changes, but Zoulou was right behind us at every single turn. Zoulou was forever closing in on us and we had to keep finding ways to protect our position.

“Honestly, I think Zoulou has shown a big step up in performance since the RORC Transatlantic Race; they were faster than us in a few situations. Limosa – The Famous Project has also shown a big improvement, which is great for them. They were very close with us and Zoulou the entire time; it’s great to see them refining their performance.”

This was the fifth RORC Caribbean 600 for Carroll and the second time MOD70 Argo has taken Multihull Line honors. However, Argo’s 2022 race record remains intact (01 Day 05 Hrs 48 Mins 45 Secs).

“We love this race, it’s relatively close to home, with beautiful weather, scenery and people!” continued Carroll. “It’s a nice length but still challenging as it’s super-active the entire time, keeping us all busy. It really is an awesome race with reaching conditions and plenty of turns, with new angles to keep you sharp and engaged; the Caribbean 600 is a very thought-provoking and fun race with great competition.”

Erik Maris’ Zoulou got off to a flyer, port tacking the 11-strong Multihull Fleet: “It was a great start, the plan worked but to be honest we were expecting to duck the fleet, not go over the top of them!” commented Maris. “The race was like a massive game of cat and mouse; we thought we were going to catch Argo three or four times, but every time we caught up, they kept running away from us. We were pushing and pushing right to the end, but to no avail. We will get them next time.”

The three MOD70s are leading the class after MOCRA time correction. The latest multihull to finish is Fabrice Cahierc’s Ocean Fifty Planet Realities which is currently fourth after time correction. The remaining threat is defending MOCRA champion Adrian Keller’s Irens 84 Allegra (SUI) if they finish by 14:04:05 AST February 21.

Race information – Tracking – Results

THE RORC CARIBBEAN 600 SERIES:
• The 15th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 starts from Antigua on February 19, 2024. The 600nm course circumnavigates 11 Caribbean Islands starting from Fort Charlotte at English Harbour and heads north as far as St Martin and south to Guadeloupe taking in Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba and St Barth’s

• The 2024 RORC Caribbean 600 is preceded by the 2nd Nelson’s Cup Series with two days of inshore racing on February 13-14 followed by the Antigua 360 Race on February 16. This is the same format as the 2023 edition.

RORC Caribbean 600 Records
• Multihull Record: 01 days 05 hrs 48 mins 45 secs in 2022 by MOD70 Argo (Jason Carroll)
• Monohull Record: 01 days 13 hrs 41 mins 45 secs in 2018 by Rambler 88 (George David)
• IRC Corrected Record: 03 days 10 hrs 09 mins 41 secs in 2022 by Pac52 Warrior Won (Christopher Sheehan)

RORC CARIBBEAN 600 – PAST IRC OVERALL WINNERS:
2023 – Roy P. Disney, Volvo 70, Pyewacket (USA)
2022 – Christopher Sheehan, Warrior Won, Pac52 (USA)
2020 – Tilmar Hansen, Outsider, TP52 (GER)
2019 – David and Peter Askew, Wizard, Volvo 70 (USA)
2018 – George David, Rambler 88, Maxi (USA)
2017 – Hap Fauth, Bella Mente, JV72 (USA)
2016 – George Sakellaris, Maxi 72, Proteus (USA)
2015 – Hap Fauth, JV72, Bella Mente (USA)
2014 – George Sakellaris, RP72, Shockwave (USA)
2013 – Ron O’Hanley, Privateer, Cookson 50 (USA)
2012 – Niklas Zennström’s JV72, Rán (GBR)
2011 – George David, Rambler 100, JK 100 (USA)
2010 – Karl C L Kwok, Beau Geste, Farr 80 (HKG)
2009 – Adrian Lee, Lee Overlay Partners, Cookson 50 (IRL)

Source: Royal Ocean Racing Club