Close finishes have been a feature of this year’s RORC Caribbean 600 and that trait continued in IRC One with a rematch between two British JPK 1180s.
Sunrise and Dawn Treader last met in the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race and Sunrise won the world’s biggest offshore race overall. Dawn Treader’s Fastnet was a miserable experience, suffering a broken mast in first few miles of the iconic race.
Fast-forward to the RORC Caribbean 600, Tom Kneen’s Sunrise (GBR) was pushed all the way by Ed Bell’s Dawn Treader (GBR). The two teams are very friendly off the water, but out on the 600-mile race track, the gloves were off for four days and nights of intense racing. Sunrise won the battle and IRC One, but only just, beating Dawn Treader into second place by under 12 minutes after IRC time correction. Third in IRC One was Jacques Pelletier’s Breton team racing the Milon 41 L’Ange de Milon (FRA).
Ross Applebey’s victory in IRC Two was his eighth class win in the RORC Caribbean 600 and the seventh for Scarlet Oyster (GBR). The Oyster 48 finished the race just before dawn on Friday 25th February, taking class line honours and win after IRC time correction. The remainder of the podium for IRC Two is as yet undecided, but as of 12:38 AST on Friday 25th February, no other team in the class can better Scarlet Oyster’s corrected time.