Pyewacket 70 took Monohull Line Honours in the 2023 RORC Caribbean 600 in an elapsed time of 42 hours, 45 mins and six seconds.
Among the 13 crew members on board the victorious vessel – that saw off stiff competition in the annual 600-mile race around 11 Caribbean islands – was Antiguan sailor Tristan Louwrens.
It was a second consecutive triumph for the 24-year-old who was also on board last year’s winning boat, Warrior Won.
“We had a great mix of crew that know this course very well, and crew like me who experienced this wonderful race for the first time,” said Pyewacket’s skipper Ben Mitchell.
“Each leg is like a race in itself, which keeps everybody going, but on a boat like Pyewacket 70 those legs become very short. Getting any sleep is a challenge as the whole crew is up for every manoeuvre.”
Meanwhile, after more than 30 hours of racing at speeds approaching 40 knots, MOD70 Zoulou, sailed by Erik Maris of France, claimed Multihull Line Honours by just 11 seconds. Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati Multi70 of Italy endured the pain of coming second after another photo-finish; Maserati was also second last year by just two minutes from Jason Carroll’s record-breaking MOD70 Argo.