With 24 hours to go until the race, a spectacular 75-boat fleet is ready for the 13th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600, sponsored by the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
In the start sequence from Fort Charlotte, Antigua, the rules state that the MOCRA class will start last, half an hour behind the first group. The appointment on the starting line for the multihulls is therefore set for tomorrow, Monday 21 February, at 11:30 local time (15:30 UTC, 16:30 Italian time).
Giovanni Soldini, together with the crew of Maserati Multi70, in flying trim will challenge 7 other multihulls, among which his direct rivals: Peter Cunningham’s PowerPlay, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, with legendary French navigator Loick Peyron on board; and Jason Carroll’s Argo, with Brian Thompson. Antoine Rabaste and Jacek Siwek will participate with the 80ft Maxi Multi Ultim Emotion 2.
The race, fast and tactical, full of manoeuvres and rapid changes of direction of winds and currents, develops along a 600-mile course that from Antigua heads north, rounds Barbuda, Nevis, Saba and Saint Barth, doubles the island of Saint Martin and heads south to turn around Guadeloupe, aiming at the last buoy off Barbuda, and so back to Antigua.
The multihulls will sail with an eye on the regatta’s speed record, set in 2019 by Giovanni Soldini himself, who crossed the finish line with a time of 1 day, 6 hours and 49 minutes aboard Maserati Multi70. To break the record, one of the competing trimarans will have to finish the race before 22:19 UTC on Tuesday 22 February.
Weather forecasts indicate a not too strong and fairly stable trade wind around 13/14 knots, with some passages, particularly Tuesday morning downwind of Guadeloupe, and Tuesday night south of Guadeloupe, where there could be significant drops.
“I’m sure it will be a very hard-fought race,” comments Giovanni Soldini, “PowerPlay and Argo are two top-level teams and the boats are very similar. We’re ready for it and we’re going to see some great things”.
Maserati Multi70 is participating in the RORC Caribbean 600 for the fourth time after having raced the 2017, 2019 and 2020 editions. In this regatta, Giovanni Soldini will be accompanied by a crew of 7 sailors. Guido Broggi is back on board and the team that won the RORC Transatlantic Race a few weeks ago is joined by French navigator Gwénolé Gahinet.
Photo © Mags Hudgell/RORC
