PRESS RELEASE: RORC – Quick Guide – How to follow the RORC Caribbean 600 –
FOLLOW BELLA MENTE RACING
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Organised by The Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with Antigua Yacht Club
Start: Antigua, West Indies – Monday 20 February 2017
Course: 600nm non-stop around 11 Caribbean Islands
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday 16 February 2017, Antigua
Quick Guide – How to follow
the RORC Caribbean 600
An record fleet featuring 80 of the world’s most spectacular yachts and crews are gathering in Antigua for the start of the 2017 RORC Caribbean 600 on Monday 20th February 2017. To keep up to date with all the news and to follow the race, please see full details below.
Blogs from the boats, daily race reports, images, videos and news. Follow the action as it unfolds on the RORC Caribbean 600 website.
Fleet Tracking: http://caribbean600.
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Join the Virtual Regatta: http://click.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
#rorcrc600 @rorcracing
Instagram: https://www.
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| RORC Caribbean 600 © RORC/Tim Wright/Photoaction.com |
Start: Monday 20th February – 1050 (First warning signal)
Fort Charlotte, Antigua will be the starting and finishing point for this sensational 600 mile non-stop yacht race around 11 Caribbean Islands.
Class start times:
1100 (1500 UTC) – IRC 2, IRC 3, CSA
1110 (1510 UTC) – IRC 1 & Class40
1120 (1520 UTC) – IRC Zero and CK
1130 (1530 UTC) – Superyachts
1140 (1540 UTC) – Multihulls
Note: A Warning Signal will be given 10 minutes before the Starting Signal
80 yachts will take the start on Monday 20 February. The First Warning Signal is at 1050, but yachts will leave the dock much earlier to make their way to the start area. The start sequence with nine different classes will take 50 minutes to complete.
Spectators are in for a treat. The 9th edition of the race will showcase an astounding fleet of yachts: from record-breaking high performance racers to magnificent schooners, fast production yachts and foiling multilhulls.
Due to the size of the yachts and the sheer number competing, considerable sea room is needed to manoeuvre and a team of highly experienced volunteers will act as on-the-water marshals maintaining an Exclusion Zone to keep spectator boats at a safe distance from the yachts racing.
Watch from the water:
For those wishing to watch the race from the water, please note that there will be an Exclusion Zone around the starting area effective from 1030 to 1200 on Monday 20 February 2017.
The safety of spectator vessels and competitors is paramount and therefore Marshal Boats displaying a white flag with a red “M” will be policing the exclusion zone as per the diagram below.
PLEASE NOTE: EXCLUSION ZONE FOR THE START
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The safety of spectator vessels and competitors is paramount and therefore Marshal Boats displaying a white flag with a red “M” will be policing the exclusion zone as per the diagram below.
Watch from the shore:
The yachts will be starting south of Fort Charlotte on Monday 20 February. Those left on land can get a wonderful view from there, or from Shirley Heights. The starting line is formed between an orange triangle on Fort Charlotte and an orange cylindrical Outer Distance Mark approximately 0.50nm south of Fort Charlotte. The Race Committee may adjust this position with reference to the wind direction on the day of the start. Fort Charlotte is at the eastern entrance to English Harbour above the Pillars of Hercules and below Shirley Heights.
There’s also a chance to catch a glimpse of the boats leaving Falmouth Harbour from Pigeon Beach and the boats leaving English Harbour from Galleon Beach from 0930 onwards. Boats will be gathering in the start area from around 1000, so get there early to get the best view. The start sequence begins at 1050.
Join the Virtual Race:
If you can’t make the race but want to compete against thousands of ‘armchair sailors’ around the world, join the RORC Caribbean 600 Virtual Regatta now. Test your skills, but beware, you will be hooked as the delights and frustrations of the course become apparent.
Join the Virtual Regatta HERE: http://click.virtualregatta.
A word from the RORC Racing Manager:
“The support of the members of the Antigua Yacht Club plays a vital part in the success of the RORC Caribbean 600. The fact that we see so many familiar faces and new volunteers helping us each year, with their vast experience of the local area and conditions, gives the RORC the confidence to be able to organise this demanding offshore race with a small RORC team from the UK,” says RORC Racing Manager, Nick Elliott.
“We are very pleased that ABSAR, the Antigua Barbuda Search and Rescue team will be on hand to help with the many aspects of safety and fleet management required to run an offshore race. ABSAR’s highly trained team and safety network throughout the islands on the Caribbean 600 course, is vital to the safe running of the race. ABSAR will also be on hand to help identify any boats finishing in the hours of darkness,” continues Elliott.
The 2017 edition of the RORC Caribbean 600, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club, will start on Monday 20 February 2017.
Entry List as at 16 Feb 2017:
Media Resources:
Interviews/media requests:
Please get in touch if you have any requests or wish to interview one of the organisers or competitors before, or after the race. Contact Trish Jenkins: press@rorc.org
Images: High resolution, copyright free images will be available after the start, from Barbuda, St Barths and Redonda, where our event photographer, Tim Wright (Photoaction.com) will be capturing the race.
Video: Four video edits will also be made available: preview, start, early arrivals and a wrap up highlights edit. Let us know if you have any requests for broadcast quality footage. All edits will be available on the RORC YouTube channel/RORC Racing.
Features: if you would like a specific feature for your magazine on the race, or certain boats within it, we’d be pleased to help.
Follow the race: Social media, a race tracker and daily updates on the race minisite will bring the race alive for those of us not lucky enough to take part.
Media Team: On site in Antigua: Trish Jenkins (Press Officer), Louay Habib (Race Reporter), Roddy Grimes-Graeme (Video), Tim Wright (Photographer), Ted Martin & ELWJ Photography. Race team based at Antigua Yacht Club.
NOTES TO EDITORS
PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Trish Jenkins
RORC Press Officer
Local Cellphone: +1 268 725 4367
Skype: trish jenkins
Race/Press office opens at Antigua Yacht Club on Tuesday 14th Feb
RORC Race Enquiries:
Nick Elliott, Racing Manager
Royal Ocean Racing Club
Royal Ocean Racing Club:
20 St James’s Place
London SW1A 1NN
Tel: 020 7493 2248
Fax: 020 7493 2470
THE RORC CARIBBEAN 600:
- RORC Caribbean 600 minisite: http://caribbean600.
rorc.org - The 9th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 starts from Antigua on Monday 20th February 2017
- The 600nm course circumnavigates 11 Caribbean Islands starting from Fort Charlotte, English Harbour, Antigua and heads north as far as St Martin and south to Guadeloupe taking in Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba and St Barth’s
- 73 yachts have entered the race to date and a record number of boats from around the world is expected to take part
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Twitter: #rorcrc600 @rorcracingFacebook: www.facebook.com/
royaloceanracingclub Instagram: instagram.com/rorcracing
PAST RESULTS: RORC CARIBBEAN 600 TROPHY – IRC OVERALL
(Best best corrected time under IRC)
(Best best corrected time under IRC)
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)
THE ROYAL OCEAN RACING CLUB:
- Established in 1925, The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) became famous for the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race and the international team event, the Admiral’s Cup. It organises an annual series of domestic offshore races from its base in Cowes as well as inshore regattas such as the RORC Easter Challenge and IRC National Championships in the Solent
- The RORC works with other yacht clubs to promote their offshore races and provides marketing and organisational support. The RORC Caribbean 600 based in Antigua and the first offshore race in the Caribbean, has been an instant success and in 2014 the RORC extended its organisational expertise by creating the RORC Transatlantic Race from Lanzarote to Grenada in November
- The club is based in St James’ Place, London and Cowes, Isle of Wight
- In co-operation with the French offshore racing club, UNCL, RORC is responsible for IRC, the principal international handicap system for yacht racing worldwide.The Spinlock IRC rating rule is administered jointly by the RORC Rating Office in Lymington, UK and UNCL Centre de Calcul in Paris, France
- The RORC Rating Office is the technical hub of the Royal Ocean Racing Club and recognised globally as a centre of excellence for measurement. For Spinlock IRC rating information in the UK please see: www.rorcrating.com
RACE PARTNERS:
The Royal Ocean Racing Club has partnered with Rolex SA, adding the RORC Caribbean 600 to the leading Swiss watchmaker’s prestigious roster of yachting events around the world. www.rolex.com
Sevenstar Yacht Transport – Official Logistics Partner to the RORC Caribbean 600.Sevenstar Yacht Transport is the world’s leading provider of yacht shipping services. A global network of destinations, ranging from the familiar to the exotic, and our own fleet of more than 100 independent carriers have propelled Sevenstar to the peak of its sector for more than 25 years. For race yachts, Sevenstar offers a unique package to the teams which includes all logistics of boat and spares. http://www.sevenstar-
Sevenstar Yacht Transport Enquiries:
Wouter Verbraak – Direct: +44 238 021 5063, Mb: +44 755 752 6451
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