New Generation Claims the Record

As if the RORC Caribbean 600 needed any more pizzazz to elevate itself on the world racing scene, it got a huge boost when 35-years-young Lloyd Thornburg of St. Barth/Santa Fe/Newport Beach/Not Sure Where Else, showed up a couple of days before the start with the brand-new-to him lime green MOD70 trimaran Phaedo3. Then, with the aid of sailing greats such as Michel Desjoyeaux and Brian Thompson — the latter known to many Bay Area sailors for his time on Steve Fossett’s ORMA trimaran Lakota and maxi catamaran PlayStation — finished in 33 hours, 35 minutes.

The record run was at an average of 17.9 knots and crushed the old record, set by the ORMA 60 trimaran Region Guadeloupe, by 6.5 hours. As big and powerful as the MOD70s are, most sailors may not realize how sensitive they are. One flipped in less than 20 knots of wind, so the helmsman and those on the sail controls must be constantly vigilant. We’ve sat on the windward net of a MOD70 at 34 knots, and it takes a lot of effort to not be bounced overboard.
An enthusiastic Thornburg, who shared driving duties with Desjoyeaux and Thompson, said Phaedo3’s future plans include the Heineken Regatta, Transatlantic Race and the Fastnet Race, the latter being one of the three other great middle-distance ocean races in the world. We’ve been sworn to secrecy, but we know for a fact that Phaedo3 will be racing in yet another major Caribbean regatta after the Heineken and before the Transatlantic. The tri may need a refit before the start of the Fastnet.

Thornburg had previously raced his other multihull, the Gunboat 66 catamaran Phaedo in the Transatlantic and in the Fastnet, and is well known for having sailed her 428 miles in 24 hours in the 2013 Transpac before being dismasted. Thornburg not only still owns the Gunboat, he had her meticulously refit and upgraded over the last two years in Newport Beach.

Thanks to Ocean Images, the Thornburg-hired film crew, there is unprecedented great footage of the blisteringly fast trimaran screaming along in the idyllic sailing conditions of the Caribbean. Pump it up! This will only raise the profile of the great event even higher, as well as that of racing in the Caribbean and the MOD70s.

The Carib 600, however, was more than the Phaedo3 show, as it attracted a terrific fleet of 66 boats and many hundreds of hardcore racers ready to battle the Caribbean trades. To give an idea of how strong the fleet was, there were 21 yachts racing IRC Zero and Canting Keel, which organizers said made it the finest fleet ever to race in the Caribbean.

The race included the much-awaited debut of hardcore racer George David’s new Juan K-designed Rambler 88, which replaces his R/P Rambler 92 and Juan K Rambler 100. Because of light air the second day, Rambler missed the monohull course record and corrected out third in IRC. Overall IRC honors went to Hap Fauth’s JV 72 mini-maxi Belle Mente, which was spectacularly dismasted during the start of one of the Voiles de St. Barth races last year. Both boats, plus a surprise entry, will be around for this year’s Voiles de St. Barth in April.

But the Carib 600 wasn’t just lightweight flyers. Adela and Athos, two great schooners, went at it again this year. Adela, originally from 1903, is 182 feet. Athos, a recent Hoek design, is 205 feet. With Adela still on the course, Athos has had to drop out. To give you an idea how hard racing these babies can be, Shag Morton, last year’s skipper on Adela, reported they made close to 50 sail changes.

San Francisco’s Peter Aschenbrenner took second in the multihull division with his Irens 63 Paradox, which is a cruising version of an ORMA 60. Doug Baker’s Kernan 47 True, from Long Beach, still had 150 miles to go, and wasn’t doing particularly well in conditions that weren’t really to the boat’s liking.