2026 RORC Caribbean 600 Day 2 - Duels in the Trades
by Louay Habib / RORC 24 Feb 15:55 GMT
24 February 2026
Frederic Puzin's Carkeek 54 Daguet (FRA) currently holds the top spot overall under IRC © Tim Wright / RORC
Dawn in Antigua on Day Two of the 2026 RORC Caribbean 600 reveals a race beginning to take shape, but far from settled. Through the northern islands, the fleet has split into high-speed duels, tactical compression zones and emerging class battles.
From Nevis to Tintamarre, Saba to St. Barts, the island transits are exposing strengths, punishing small errors and sharpening the leaderboard across every division.
At Nevis - IRC Overall
At the Nevis transit, the RORC Caribbean 600 fleet had all passed the transit point by around midnight on Day 1. The top boats in IRC Zero all feature in the overall podium ranking.
Daguet 5 (FRA) rounded just before sunset and set the benchmark on corrected time, holding the top spot overall under IRC as the fleet compressed behind. Palanad 4 (FRA) climbed one place to second, just 3 minutes 56 seconds after time correction to Daguet, signalling a tightening duel at the front. Niklas Zennstrom's Carkeek 52 Rán (SWE) slipped one position but remained firmly in contention, 20 minutes 23 seconds off the leader. James Neville's Carkeek 45 Ino Noir (GBR) was ranked fourth. Mills 72 Balthasar with Louis Balcaen at the helm, jumped up one place in the ranking to 5th ahead of Farr 100 Leopard 3.
Behind the podium battle, decisive gains under IRC Overall included Mike Hennessy's Class40 Scowling Dragon (USA) climbing an uber 13 places in the ranking to 8th overall under IRC.
At Tintamarre - Multihull Line Honours & MOCRA
At the Tintamarre transit, Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo (USA) had posted the fastest elapsed time of 14:32:19. Jon Desmond's MOD70 Final Final - Zoulou was giving Argo plenty to think about, just 11 minutes 34 seconds astern, keeping the high-speed duel finely balanced. While the gap is modest in offshore terms, at MOD70 speeds it reflects sustained pressure and near-matched performance.
A more substantial margin then opened to Marcus Sirota's Irens 63 Sophia, which arrived 2 hours 56 minutes 44 seconds later. However, Sophia leads the class after MOCRA time correction by nearly 3 hours from Argo.
Monohull Line Honours
The Monohull Line Honours battle is red hot between Remon Vos' RP100 Black Jack 100 and Leopard 3 steered by Joost Schuijff. This looks like a 12-round boxing match between the two heavy hitters with the advantage swinging from one leg to the next. Black Jack led at Barbuda by two minutes and extended that lead to 12 minutes by Nevis. However, Leopard played smart om the reach up to Saba cutting down the deficit to 4 minutes and by St. Barts, Leopard was 93 seconds behind. Black Jack 100 gained on the downwind to St Marteen, stretching the lead back to 3 minutes. However, after the beat to Tintamarre, Leopard had clawed back 90 seconds. At dawn on Day Two Leopard took the lead and extended the gap to 7 miles on the long beat to Guadeloupe.
At Anguilla Channel - IRC Super Zero
With the IRC Super Zero fleet all in or past the Anguilla Channel, Balthasar led after IRC time correction with Leopard 3 second just 4 minutes 41 seconds behind. VO65 Jajo, skippered by Tony Rey, was ranked third.
At St. Barts - Class40
At the St. Barts transit, Robin Follin's Solano (FRA) led on the water and had been gradually extending their lead, including producing the fastest outright split for the Class40s from Saba to St. Barts. Through the sector Solano held a commanding margin of 35 minutes 36 seconds over Mateo Calvic's FPFP-TP (FRA), establishing clear separation at the head of the group. Mike Hennessy's Scowling Dragon followed a further 31 minutes 23 seconds behind FPFP-TP, while Jean-Yves Aglae's Martinique Horizon (FRA) completed the quartet, conceding another 44 minutes 45 seconds.
At Saba Island - IRC One
At the Saba transit point, Bruce Chafee's RP42 Rikki (USA) had jumped up two places in the ranking to wrestle the class lead from J/125 Jackknife (GBR), skippered by Sam Hall, by 51 seconds after IRC time correction. Yves Grosjean's Neo 430 Afazik Impulse (FRA) advanced a place to third, over 14 minutes off pole position after IRC time correction. Xavier Bellouard's Lift 45 Maxitude (FRA) dropped two positions at the Saba transit to fourth. Less than 30 minutes separated second from fourth, and only small deltas defined the order. There is 'plenty of golf' left in IRC One.
At Saba Island - IRC Two
The majority of the IRC Two fleet had rounded Saba Island heading to St. Barts. Richard Dilley's GS46 Belladonna was ranked in pole position at Saba continuing to set the benchmark for the class. Cox & Dunlop's J/122 Mojito (GBR) was ranked second after IRC time correction by about 12 minutes. Ray Rhinelander's J/133 Bella J, skippered by Sarah Nicholson, is very much in the hunt just under 7 minutes behind Mojito after IRC time correction. Beyond the class podium ranking, steady time deltas rather than ranking shifts defined the sector. Katy Campbell's Salona 45 Panacea X and Peter Lewis' J/121 Whistler (BAR) remained within striking distance.
With Guadeloupe looming and the long southern leg set to test stamina and strategy, the race is entering a decisive phase. Margins remain slender at the front, class battles are tightly packed, and the trade winds are offering no easy answers. Day Two of the RORC Caribbean 600 is delivering exactly what this race promises: relentless pressure, constant recalculation and no hiding place around the islands.
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