RORC Caribbean 600 Race 2025 Preview

ByStuart Johnstone

(English Harbour, Antigua)- The 16th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 will start on Monday 24th February, 2025. Starting and finishing in Antigua, the classic Royal Ocean Racing Club’s non-stop 600.0nm race goes around eleven spectacular, picturesque Caribbean islands. The race sends the teams around a mostly reaching course using eleven of the stunning islands in the Caribbean as turning marks. Those so-called “turning marks” included the spectacular, mountainous islands such as Nevis, Saba, St. Barths, St. Maarten, Tintamarre, Guadeloupe, Iles des Saintes, and La Desirade.

For several J/Teams that love participating in the Caribbean winter offshore sailing circuit, the “reaching tour” of the eleven islands fulfills their “bucket list” expectations for spectacular sailing offshore at night and gorgeous vistas of the famous resort islands during the day.

The RORC Caribbean 600 is truly an international affair, with over 500 sailors taking part from over 25 different countries. The first warning signal will sound at Fort Charlotte for an epic race featuring a highly competitive and varied fleet of IRC Offshore boats.

A half-dozen J/Teams will be tackling this challenging race in both IRC 1 and IRC 2 Divisions.

IRC 1 Division
This seventeen-boat fleet has a well-known Barbados crew sailing Peter Lewis’s J/121 WHISTLER. They will be hard-pressed by two very capable offshore teams on twin J/133s- Bob Manchester’s VAMOOSE from Barrington YC in Barrington, Rhode Island, and Sarah Nicholson & Ray Rhinelander’s BELLA J from Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

IRC 2 Division
As the largest fleet in the race, these eighteen teams will have their work cut out for them going up against a trio of lethal offshore weapons like J/122s and a J/112E. The twin J/122s include Nikki & Nicola Henderson racing EL OCASO (a famous race-winning boat on the Caribbean circuit) and Peter Dunlop & Victoria Cox’s MOJITO from Pwllheli Sailing Club in Wales, United Kingdom. Taking them on will be Murat Abdrakhmanov’s J/112E JENIS hailing from the Caspian Sea resort of Almaty, Kazakhstan!

For more RORC Caribbean 600 Race sailing information
https://www.caribbean600.rorc.org