The 2026 RORC Caribbean600?emerged with a spectacular launch from Fort Charlotte, Antigua. An international fleet set out on a nonstop 600-mile journey around '11 Caribbean Islands in what promises to a be a thrilling 17th edition.

Chris Jackson, Race Director of the Pillars of Hercules, said: "What an amazing day."

"15 knots trade winds, providing classic conditions for the beginning. We made a small adjustment to our line due to the strong south easterly wind. This allowed us to have a more consistent, safer approach to the pin.

Five separate starts were used to show the action. White caps confirmed the good breeze which produced tactical wind changes from the opening shot.

Jackson said that "all?starts were clean, bar one boat which was OCS but they returned quickly without much loss".

The IRC 'Zero' class was the scene of an early drama, with a duel between Frederic Puzin and Niklas Zennstrom in their Carkeek 52 Daguet 5 flying the French flag.

Both boats were able to engage in a thrilling pre-start battle, with Ran forcing Daguet 5, into evasive actions before they pressed inshore under Fort Charlotte's Cliffs.

The IRC Super Zero class, a big boat with a lot of power and speed, produced its own drama near the pin end where the buoy marked the boundary.

Remon Vos Maxi 100 Black Jack 100 quickly surpassed the Mills 72 Balthasar, which was slightly early.

The Farr 100 Leopard 3 then squeezed to windwards of Black Jack. Both boats were accelerating towards the Antigua cliffs with very little room at sea.

Marc Guillemot, from?France's MG5 wellnessTraining won the pin in the 11-strong fleet of multihulls. Jason Carroll, American MOD70 Argo, who holds the race record, took a cautious approach, and stayed away from the congestion on that end of line.

By contrast, Jon Desmond’s MOD70 Final Final Zoulou briefly was boxed-in during the pin-end pinch but managed to wiggle?clear? without any lasting damage.

Argo was leading Barbuda by less than eight minutes. This was close enough to make the match a simmering one rather than a settled one.

The Caribbean 600, a 600 nautical mile?offshore race, is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in Antigua.

The course starts and finishes?in English Harbour and threads around 11 Caribbean Islands, including Barbuda and Nevis, as well as Guadeloupe. It offers everything from open ocean blasts to tight, tactical passages on the lee of volcanic headlands.

The event attracts both professional crews and top amateurs, from 100-foot-long maxis to high-speed multihulls.

In ideal conditions of trade winds, the fastest multihulls are able to finish in just over a single day. The leading monohulls usually take two or three days. The smaller boats at the bottom of the fleet may be out on the water for up to five days depending on the wind. Reporting by Ossian shine; editing by Peter Rutherford

(source: Reuters)