Antigua is playing host to yet another Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) experience for the second Caribbean 600 race. For those who may have glossed over last year’s challenge, the RORC 600 is an arduous and exhilarating ocean sprint that will take crews around the Caribbean island chain with the start and finishing lines posted in Antigua.

The event is hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club (AYC) in English Harbour and this year, RORC was happy to announce that an overwhelming majority (75%) of the competitors where different to those of last year. This of course points to a certain amount of buzz being created overseas about the competition that will hopefully mean good things for the appeal of Antigua and in a broader sense, the Caribbean, to ocean sportsmen worldwide.

As per last year, local and international boats of different sizes are competing.  In fact, local dentist, Dr. Bernard Evan-Wong will be competing again this year to defend his class title.  The countries participating in the RORC Caribbean 600 create an impressive list that includes Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Hawaii, Italy, Poland, Norway and South Africa. However, the longest distance travelled has been a boat that hailed from the far-away shores of Hong Kong (about 9,000 miles away).

Press officer for the event, Louay Habib, attributed the continued success of the event to a combination of aggressive publicity and campaigning and word-of-mouth of crewmen and women who enjoyed last year’s race immensely.

This year, the RORC Caribbean 600 was also pleased to welcome the Spirit of Juno as crewed by the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen Association or BLESMA, who are not only inspirational in their unwavering drive to succeed but who will also provide staunch competition this year due to their cumulative sailing experience and military training, which arms them with a certain degree of above-par tenacity. Also interesting is the Minerva, whose crew comprises of more than 50% women. While female sailors are far from unusual, one cannot help but acknowledge such an obvious sign of the growing diversity of the sport.

The race ends on 26th February and there will be a prize-giving ceremony at the AYC the following day. Those who wish to track their favorites for this year should go the website at www.caribbean600.rorc.org.