From Sailing ScuttleButt

(February 23, 2018) – George David’s American Maxi Rambler 88 has won the 2018 RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy, scoring the best corrected time under IRC. Rambler 88 revelled in the heavy airs race, setting a new monohull race record and by winning IRC Zero, completed a hatrick of trophies.

Rambler 88 scorched around the track in an elapsed time of 37 hours 41 minutes and 45 seconds, beating the record set by George David’s Rambler 100 in 2011 by nearly three hours.

“In ten years the ‘600 has gone from a handful of boats in its first edition, to 84 on its tenth anniversary,” notes David. “It’s a great race all around; congratulations to the RORC and everyone involved. We’re delighted to have won overall in IRC and better yet, to have broken our own record at the same time.”

Rambler 88 crew was George David, Rodney Ardern, Silvio Arrivabene, Scott Beavis, Josh Belsky, Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Jan Dekker, Brian Giorgio, Nathan Hislop, Jerry Kirby, Jerome Kirby III, Will McCarthy, Mark Newbrook, Dean Phipps, Aaron Reynolds-Lovegrove, Joca Signorini, Peter van Niekerk, and Stuart Wilson.

Also arriving to the winner’s circule is Ossie Stewart and Ross Applebey’s British Dufour 45 Scarlet Island Girl, corrected out to win IRC Two, and Conor Fogerty’s Howth YC team was the winner of IRC Three racing the Irish Sun Fast 3600 Bam!

In IRC Two, Ossie Stewart’s Scarlet Island Girl crossed the finish line after over three days and nights of hard racing to win the class. Andrew Allner’s Swan 53 Ballytrim was second ahead of Susan Glenny’s First 40 Olympia’s Tigress, skippered by Chris Preston.

“That was just relentless,” commented Olympic medallist Ossie Stewart. “Day and night we had strong conditions with really confused seas, but we never had wind and waves we couldn’t handle. We lost the steering a couple of times, but Ross handled the problem superbly fixing the issue whilst we steered with the emergency tiller.”

In IRC Three, Conor Fogerty’s Irish Sun Fast 3600 Bam! returned to the RORC Caribbean 600 having won the class in 2016. Conor’s team from Howth Yacht Club, Dublin were victorious once again, winning the class after a tough race.

“This was definitely a wet and wild ride,” commented Conor Fogerty. “The last race I won was the OSTAR single-handed and I came down to do this race for therapy to get back into sailing, but after experiencing this event, it didn’t feel like therapy! I was expecting the normal sunshine but it was quite a tough course. Four of the guys had done the 600 with me two years ago, so it was quite an experienced team.”

Getting underway on February 19, the RORC Caribbean 600 starts and finishes in Antigua with the 600 nm course carrying the fleet around 11 Caribbean islands.

Event Details – Entry List – Tracker – Facebook

PAST RESULTS: RORC CARIBBEAN 600 TROPHY – IRC OVERALL
(Best best corrected time under IRC)

2017 – Hap Fauth, JV72, Bella Mente (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: RORC Press/J2 Communications

For more on this story go to: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2018/02/23/rambler-88-wins-caribbean-600-trophy/