Lucky wins Caribbean 600 battle of bigs

Antigua (February 26, 2025) – The Juan K 88 Lucky, skippered by Bryon Ehrhart, has taken Monohull Line Honors in the 2025 RORC Caribbean 600 with an elapsed time of 01 Day 17 Hrs 14 Mins and 12 Secs.

Defending elapsed winner Farr 100 Leopard 3, skippered by Joost Schuijff, could only watch as it battled with Roy P. Disney’s Volvo 70 Pyewacket 70 for runner-up. Pyewacket 70 and Leopard 3 rounded the final island of Redonda literally side by side, with Leopard finishing just over 30 minutes ahead of Pyewacket.

Lucky’s victory, which follows their record run and Monohull Line Honors for the RORC Transatlantic Race, set the Caribbean 600 monohull elapsed record of 01:13:41:45 in 2018 as Rambler 88.

“On Lucky, you have to be surprised to cross the finish line against a hundred-foot boat; the conditions have to be just right, the navigation accurate and the whole team has to perform perfectly,” said Ehrhart. “We had very fast boats against us, and I have admired and had the greatest respect for the Leopard program since the 52-foot Lucky tied up next to her looking like a dinghy.”

The Lucky crew was Ehrhart, Antonio Cuervas Mons, Brad Butterworth, Brian Giorgio, Charlie Enright, Daniele Raddavero, Dean Phipps, Jan Dekker, John Hele, Jonathan Clough, Jonathan Rankine, Juan Vila, Luke Tougas, Mark Bradford, Mark Newbrook, Sam Mason, Scott Beavis, Simon Daubney, Stuart Wilson, and Will McCarthy.

Ehrhart believes that rounding Guadeloupe was a key moment in the race. “Approaching Guadeloupe in first place, you become the guinea pig; people see where you decide to go and Leopard saw us slow down and stayed a bit more offshore.

“Leopard saw that we were in trouble there, but with Juan (Vila) making the judgements, we were able to stay in just enough breeze and only slowed down for a limited time and did not do any extra miles. Leopard is a great competitor that has done so many great things over the years. I didn’t think we would come ahead of Leopard in this line honors duel.”

Vila added, “For navigators it’s non-stop, one thing after another. No time to relax. It’s all about the next move, the next challenge, avoiding rocks, managing wind shadows, and reacting to changing conditions.

“After Green Island there was more reaching, which suited Lucky very, very well. As soon as we could crack sheets, we sailed past Leopard and put on some distance. You feel that the boat’s got some serious power, going very fast on the reach; it was wet on deck, so you just get yourself in your foul weather gear, and off you go!”

At the top of the course, the chicane through St Barths and on to St. Martin is the most complex part of the course, where gains can be made and lost. “St Barts and St Martin is very tricky,” continued Vila. “We had small showers that made a big difference in the wind over a small area. You have to choose your gybes carefully, play with the shifts, and read the weather, especially at night.”

Lucky pulled away from Leopard on the leg down to Guadeloupe, completing the leg 44 minutes quicker than Leopard down to Guadeloupe. The wind shadow at Guadeloupe is a notorious part of the course, and although Vila had not previously done the race, he had done a huge amount of research before the race.

“To be honest, I was a bit nervous passing Guadeloupe,” admitted Vila. “You do your homework about how it’s worked in past years, but you never really know. You make your call, and then just cross your fingers.”

Lucky completed the leg, rounding Guadeloupe nearly five minutes quicker than Leopard, but it was the leg up to Barbuda for the second time where Lucky all but sealed the elapsed victory, stretching their lead by nearly 40 minutes on Leopard.

“Conditions were very tricky, with a lot of showers and shifts,” noted Vila. “Our track probably looks like an ‘S’ sometimes, but we were trying to stay in the pressure and avoid getting caught in the bad spots behind the showers.

“The key to being ahead of Leopard in this race was having quite a few reaching legs, which suited our speed. Plus, we got a bit lucky with showers and headlands and we nailed the passage past Guadeloupe, which can change everything.”

Event information – Race details – Entry list – Tracker

Lucky team

THE RORC CARIBBEAN 600 SERIES:
• The 16th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 started from Antigua on February 24, 2025. 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

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:
2024 – Joost Schuijff, Farr100, Leopard 3 (MON)
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)