55 miles to go - and the beers are ready and waiting!

Scarlet has had another great day of champagne sailing round the Island of

Antigua and chasing the best time possible. She is currently leading the CSA

class and the IRC Class 2, and is second in the IRC overall championships.

No news from the boat today but they must be very busy having the times of

their lives! The weather currently is perfect: blue skies, azure seas, stiff

breeze from the right direction, and beers already ordered, waiting at the

bar!

Scarlet is heading towards the last mark of the course called Redonda at

over 9 knots, and is now some 13 miles ahead of Smile and Wave. Once

rounding Redonda, Scarlet will then be beating again towards the finish

line, which means she will have to take a longer course as she can't sail a

direct route. At the moment, I believe her estimated time over the line

should be in about 9 hours time which is 2.30am Friday GMT/UTC and 10.30pm

Antiguan time..... yet again, another Sailing Logic yacht will finish a

major offshore race in the dark! It always happens!

News from the fleet today is that there has been 5 retirements to date,

everyone ok, mainly mechanical failures and problems. Next yacht to finish

will be Uxorious IV, a British 62 foot Swan, well done to them!

Another update to follow this evening....

Allie Smith

Managing Director

Sailing Logic Ltd

Shamrock Quay Marina

Southampton

SO14 5QL

T 02380 330999

M 07770 560950

E This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

W www.sailinglogic.co.uk

GBR9051T. Team White knight on Spirit of Venus as at 1200 hours. Cracking

sailing but this beat up Guadeloupe feels like its taking along time!

Still now within 15 miles of the la desirade turn. All on board now

looking forward to finish - still some way off and the last beat will be a

killer. Still managing to hold boat together but uphill struggle.

Desperately hoping to be in in under 4 days but now suspect 1900

prizegiving more realistic. Regards, Paul

Fantastic news from the Race Course of the RORC Caribbean 600. Our intrepid

team on Scarlet Logic have been working incredibly hard all morning, and

have just rounded the northernmost tip of Antigua.

They are still ahead in IRC Class 2, and now are leading the CSA Class

(Caribbean rating system) and are 2nd in IRC Overall. This overall standing

basically means that our little red yacht has out-performed every other

yacht in the race bar 1 - an exceptional achievement if this carries on to

the finish, as this race has had the largest collection of super yachts ever

gathered to race together. With the average waterline length of these being

75 foot, our little red 48 footer has done very well indeed!

Allie Smith

Managing Director

Sailing Logic Ltd

Shamrock Quay Marina

Southampton

SO14 5QL

T 02380 330999

M 07770 560950

E This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

W www.sailinglogic.co.uk

Scarlet Logic has had a great run overnight and are waking up this morning

to see Antigua ahead of them and only 129 miles to go to the finish line, so

we believe they should cross the line sometime later today.

They have scorched round Guadeloupe after their little wind hole experience,

and have pulled out a 9 mile lead over Smile and Wave, with whom they were

having a big tussle with yesterday. They have also managed to increase the

gap between themselves and Solent rivals EH01 to over 25 miles; we believe

Scarlet is the leading non-professionals yacht in the race which is still

great!

On the leader board, Scarlet is still leading IRC Class 1 by some margin but

had dropped to 5th in IRC Overall, as some of the yachts ahead have finished

and posted a time. It is not confirmed yet that the positions in IRC overall

are set in stone, so Scarlet could still better her 5th place at the

moment, so go, Scarlet, go!

We have not heard form the yacht today, which means that they must be

working hard trying to get every last tiny bit of speed out of her.......

Line honours went to the biggest yacht in the Race, Hetairos, who although

did not beat the record set 2 years ago by Rambler 100, still managed to get

round in under 3 days, which is awesome. With over 30 crew onboard, they

must have had to have had a very big galley!

Scarlet's victualling (food) was organised by Rosie Danby, girlfriend of

Ross, who spent days cooking and freezing meals so that the crew could eat

as well as possible whilst racing, without actually having to cook nmeals

from scratch. Good food is very important when racing offshore, not only for

energy but also for morale, so many thanks to Rosie for her efforts.

Allie Smith

Managing Director

Sailing Logic Ltd

Shamrock Quay Marina

Southampton

SO14 5QL

T 02380 330999

M 07770 560950

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W www.sailinglogic.co.uk

EH01 is on the reach up to Barbuda after a (long....) beat around the back

of Guadaloupe. Superb work by the crew meant we left 'Hound' standing on the

west side of the island in the wind shadow yesterday although Northern Child

stayed with us.

This reach is a tricky one for us as we dont cary asymetric kites and so are

a little slow on just a No. 2; Northern Chils with a big A sailis closing

the gap...

Cheers

Andy (skipper)

We have finally arrived in Antigua at the finishing line. After a last beat of only 35 miles - seemed much longer, we are enjoying the sun warming the shoulders. The sun set light gives Antigua island and its hills wonderful colour of green. Wonderful race! Let's see the results later one tonight or tomorrow for the compensated time. Hurrah team Rn! #end

GBR9051T. Team White knight on Spirit of Venus as at 1430 hours. Fast

approaching Northern end of Montserrat. Sun has disappeared in numerous

squalls - 2 reefs in! Bloody raymarine gps has gone on strike again.

Regards, Paul

GBR9051T. As at 1200 antigua time Team White Knight enjoying a wild and

wet white sail reach south, currently abeam Nevis headed for Montserrat.

Saw Sleeper retiring towards antigua this morning but no one else in

sight. Last night rather emotional as GPS on raymarine declined to play,

so navigating round st barts and st martin with a hand held and

combination of paper and echarts! Not funny or fast. Not helped by the

heads going u/s -eventually clrared and cleaned by skipper this am but

only for a crew man to have a major mis hap! Said crew then needed to

reclean! Gps resurfaced this am for a couple of mins then decided to give

up the ghost again. Eventually came back to life a few minutes ago to

apparantly be working normally. Electronics! Best to all. Paul

Watching the race tracker today has been a test of nerves. Scarlet has

continued to make great progress South towards the Island of Guadeloupe,

deciding which route to take... should they go inshore or offshore. The

decision was made late morning and seemed initially to have paid dividends.

Heading a little further offshore, Ross, Tim and the team have been banking

on there been more wind out there, and less chance of sitting in a wind hole

mid-afternoon, and then staying there as the wind drops off as night

approaches.

This tactic has seen them pull ahead of the First 40 Smile and Wave, who

they have been having a private battle with since Saba. Smile and Wave

decided to take the inshore path, and have now headed further offshore

having seen their boat speed drop to just 2 knots. Scarlet has pulled out a

4.5 mile lead from then in the last few hours. However, Scarlet's speed has

now dropped as they are in the windless area, but not as much as the yachts

directly ahead of her, Clem and Lilla. They have been wallowing around all

afternoon and have just this last few minutes picked up their skirts and

started to move quickly again.

Scarlet is still moving, and is still 3rd in IRC Overall behind Ran and

Rambler which is just so great! If they can keep moving and then catch the

increased wind at the bottom of Guadeloupe before nightfall then they have

done exceptionally well. So, as you can see, it is a little bit like a game

of chess. Which way should they go, and where is everyone else! Although

Scarlet does have quite sophisticated communication equipment onboard,

You can't monitor weather, boat position and speed all the time, as you have

to get out there and sail the yacht. They will be able to see where the

other yachts are and this may have had some part to play in their decision

making earlier today. The ongoing forecast is for increasing wind, which

will suit Scarlet very well. If the yachts taking positions 1 and 2 in IRC

Overall finish ahead of her (which they should), then having a better wind

forecast gives the chances of Scarlet moving higher up the podium a real

possibility.

Onboard Scarlet we have a complete mixture of experience, age, gender and

nationalities. and we believe we have the oldest crew man in the fleet with

Brian Phillips at the tender age of 72! Brian is a stalwart of Sailing

Logic's offshore campaigns and he has competed in every offshore campaign we

have participated in since 2005 - go Brian! We know his family is very proud

of his achievements as we are, and we know when a team has had a good race

by the width of Brian's smile through the finish line. Brian is a demon

helm, and one of our best secret weapons....so long may he continue racing

with Sailing Logic!

Allie Smith

Managing Director

Sailing Logic Ltd

Shamrock Quay Marina

Southampton

SO14 5QL

T 02380 330999

M 07770 560950

E This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

W www.sailinglogic.co.uk

OK so after another hectic night we are battling the light winds off the

western side of Guadaloupe. Since the first mark off Barbuda we have been

having a great tussle with 'Hound' another yacht from our class (div 1) They

have been snapping at our heels the whole time but we've held them off

untilthe long windy reach from St Martinto here where they gotin front.

However some nifty kite work in anticipation of breeze under a cloud has us

back in front. Also joining our battle are some old sparring partners

Northern Child. They appeared in fron of us this mornig and we have hauled

them in until all three yacts are within shouting distance and battlig te

light winds to gain advantage as we head down to the island group of Le

Saints off Guadaloup.

Everyone is in great spirits ofnot a little knackered as wth only 9 crew we

have a 'bit on' with all the sail changes we have been doing.

It doesnt seem as if we are well up in class at present judging by the

position reports we have got but the battle continues!

Very high rock in the middle of those island. But it could be called an island especially as there is one single house built. Not sure if inhabited tough...

We rounded this point around noon under a typical tropical shower. Drenched in 2 minutes. We are now going up wind - everyone on the rail just like laundry drying in the sun. We can see Antigua our finish mark closer and closer as we have now less than 30 miles to go. What a race! Nearly there. Come on team Rn! #end

Less than 40 miles to go to Redonda, last mark of the course before the finish. The picture needs no comment! Fast, wet, wild and still rock and roll! Go Rn Go! #end

Caribbean night

Middle of the nightand despite the few stars we can see through theclouds, it is pitch dark and the only light is reallythe glow from the land. We have now passed GrandeTerre from the Guadeloupe island. And we are sailingaround 9 to 10 knots up wind towards La Desirade.Earlier on we passed, on starboard, the island calledMarie Galante. We now have sailed 400 miles and oncewe round La Desirade, we will be heading towardsAntigua and the finish.
We have found out that the2 other boats on the water ahead of us are quite closeto us. In another words we caught up with them! Let'skeep up and not let them go again. It has been wet,and more wet, bumpy, lumpy, and real rock and roll! Itseems we were not to have just a nice sunny or drysailing the entire race!

Sunset in the Caribbean sea

Last minutes of the sun before it goes just after6pm. Reaching towards Guadeloupe, takes quite someconcentration and force to keep her going at the pacewe are sailing right now. We are going nearly as fastas the wind! In the distance we can see the profile ofMontserrat island and coming close to us the bigshadow of Guadeloupe. We can also see clouds, many!Now will they turn out to be our friends if we stay attheir edge to catch the wind and not need to go underand stop because of the rain? Or will they clear bythe time we get to them? ... We will also have to lookout for fishing pots in the water. Their marking isvery discreet it is easy (or easier for sure) to seethem in the light but at night it is what is called"pot-luck" ! Go team Rán!

Grand Jotiti

a llevamos algo mas de un mes en el Caribe. Durante todo este tiempo hemos vivido diferentes experiencias, muchas de ellas positivas, como es la acogida recibida a nuestra llegada, la temperatura, paisajes, aguas cristalinas, palmeras en las playas, diferentes islas que a todos nos recuerdan algunas secuencias de las películas de piratas.

Llevamos en Antigua desde el día 8 de Febrero, concretamente en la bahía de English Harbour, famosa por ser un fuerte inexpugnable tomado por los piratas hace cientos de años . La primera impresión que tienes al llegar a la marina es que aquí no se respira miseria, no hay crisis o al menos no se aprecia: barcos impresionantes por todas partes, parecen competir para ver cuál es el más grande. Veleros de más de 200 pies, yuates a motos que son verdaderos palacios flotantes, etc. Nuestro querido Gran jotiti Race, un VO70 parece una miniatura al lado de estos gigantes, pero no por ello deja de despertar curiosidad entre los paseantes del pantalán y el resto de tripulaciones, y es que un barco "pura sangre" de la Volvo Ocean Race no se ve todos los días.

Desde la semana pasada comenzamos a percibir el ambiente regatero con la llegada de tripulaciones, barcos y directores de la regata. A la belleza de los barcos y la marina se une la profesionalidad de los regatistas. Aquí sencillamente están los mejores del mundo, varios de ellos a bordo de nuestro Gran Jotiti Race, profesionales con los intentaremoscodearnos a partir del día 20.

El día 18 la organización preparó una recepción para las tripulaciones, el ambiente fabuloso, música, bebida, comida y la posibilidad de charlar con los barcos que serán nuestros rivales. Todo un detalle de la organización, incluyendo el hacerlos dos días antes de la salida, con el fin, imagino de evitar despistes de última hora tras la fiesta.

El día 19 lo dedicamos a realizar el último entreno y ultimar la puesta a punto del barco. Como suele ocurrir en estos casos, surgieron algunos problemas con el carril de la mayor que mantuvo a los chicos trabajado hasta las 22,00 horas.

Por fin llegó el día de la regata. La Rorc Caribbean 600. El lunes pasado tomamos la salida sobre las 11,00 h. horario local. Con poco viento tal y como se había previsto el día anterior, algo que no favorece a nuestro barco que necesita viento para poder correr.

Aún así la salida no fue nada mala. Logramos salir entre los primeros, dominando al grueso de la flota y muy por delante de barcos mucho más grandes que el nuestro. Las primeras horas transcurrieron manteniendo un bonito duelo con dos de los mejores barcos de la flota, los afamados RAMBLER un regatero de 90 pies y el RAN otro regatero JV72. Durante la noche ambos barcos se han ido alejando de nuestro lado por la falta de intensidad de viento. Aún así, con estrategia hemos logrado mantenernos relativamente cerca de ellos, quedando a la espera de que el viento suba en intensidad durante la tarde para poder recortar diferencias.

Ahora mismo estamos terminando de bordear St. Maarten dejándola por estribor, tal y como marca el recorrido de la regata y dirigiéndonos hacia el Sur con un rumbo de 166 grAdos con destino a Guadalupe, otra de las islas que deberemos bordear para luego subir hacia el norte y terminar la regata en Antigua.

Esta mañana hemos avistado dos ballenas cerca de nuestra posición, pero lamentablemente no lo suficientemente cerca como para poderlas fotografiar. Podemos asegurar que no ha sido producto de una alucinación provocada por la evidente falta de sueño y cansancio acumulado por toda la tripulación. La regata está siendo dura en cuanto a estrategia por la falta de viento y a la cantidad de maniobras que el recorrido obliga a realizar, con la llegada de más viento prevista para esta misma tarde, esperamos poder mantener mejores rumbos y maniobra, aunque sin duda exigirá un esfuerzo extra debido a la ola que se formará y a la velocidad que por fin esperamos alcanzar.

Ahora mismo creemos que vamos en cuarta posición en tiempo real y esperamos poder recortar alguna posición si entra el viento que debe entrar.

Seguiremos informando.

Saludos desde el Gran Jotiti Race en el mar del Caribe.

Mafia y Valderas

The navigator at his station

Every now and again our navigator will come down tocheck on his main screen which he fixes on thewindward side - always keeping the weight on thewindward side! When we change direction, he takes thescreen to the other side which has become the windwardside. On the screen he has the information of thecourse, where we should and should not go, what windwe should expect to find on the way, what the weatherwill be, how much distance to the next mark etc. Hethen communicates regularly with the team on deck,principally with the tactician but also with thehelmsman. When he is not below, he is on the rail witheveryone else and has a portable little tablet. Hewould of course always get involved in the manoeuvreson deck, changing the sails, grinding to trim the mainor the sails. He has a unique role on-board and hiswork is demanding just before the race and during therace to best interpret the data he has collated tohelp the team race in an optimised way.

Scarlet's co-Skipper Tim Thubron called in last night from the race to say

all is well onboard and all the crew are working hard and getting along very

well. Conditions are fantastic, but he says that it is too hot to sleep, so

they are all very tired. However, as I was listening to him talking, I am

sure I could hear the distinct noise of someone snoring in the background,

so at least someone is managing get forty winks!

As I left the tracker and headed off to bed late last night, Scarlet was in

a tussle with Class1 yacht Smile and Wave, the First 40. Scarlet have

managed to pull out a mile lead on them now which is great, as this has

pushed them up the rankings from 6th to 3rd overall, which is brilliant!

Ahead on them on handicap is RAN and Clem.

Scarlet is enjoying good reaching conditions at the moment as she heads down

towards the island of Guadeloupe. In the last 2 editions of the race, this

has been one of the trickier parts of the course, and there seems to be a

wind shadow on the far south western corner of the island, so tacticians

have to make the call whether to go offshore to keep the breeze and boat

speed but ultimately sail further, or keep inshore, accept that speed will

drop as the wind does, but sail a more direct course. The wind seems at the

moment to be between 5 and 8 knots difference between the inshore or the

offshore option. Most yachts to date have gone between 4 and 8 miles

offshore to keep the breeze, so it will be interesting to see what tactics

the rest of the fleet decide to use. The weather forecast is saying that

there is more breeze to come during today which will favour Scarlet; she

loves the wind, and excels in anything over 20 knots so fingers crossed!

The leading yacht on the water is Hetairos, the new 38 metre all mahogany

super-yacht, launched in July 2011, which has nearly back at Antigua, ready

for the final circuit of the island before the finishing line will be in

sight.

USA25555 Rambler Rounding Tintamare very bumpy out here.

USA25555 Rambler The calm at Guadeloupe enveloped us as well as Hetairos.

She was first in and first out so the passing opportunity did not happen

but we

are much closer. Now very dark and the lights of Guadeloupe shine bright.

Rounding Saint Martin

The light came relatively quickly. It was behindbig cloud, it felt like a giant Soulage painting infront of us: big black traits of clouds with somelight behind, shining through, fighting its way... Andthen finally, suddenly the sun. Warm and glittery onthe sea giving a fabulous scenery of Saint Martin'shills in the background as we were approaching. Thenight was up and down with the wind, we had hoped fora more even wind throughout...
Right now we arepassing the south side rounding starboard towards thewest side of the island of Saint Martin. We sail at 13knots or so with a 14 knots of speed of wind. We havenow sailed around 220 miles since the start. In a fewhours we will have done 24h of racing. Breakfast wasserved on deck for those on watch. Funny, seems theyforgot to bring my cappuccino! ;-)

Last tack north Saint Martin

Last tack in front of the unspoiled north part ofsaint Martin. We continue towards the next island.

Passing Tintamarre!

Just after Saint Martin we pass on our starboardthe small island of Tintamarre. From there onwards, wewill aim towards Montserrat island first and then ontoGuadeloupe. On the map it looks straight line, notsure if this is how we will manoeuvre it!

Another day of sunshine!

Most are on deck and the rest is down below andenjoying a well deserved rest/sleep. After 10 hoursondeck, they get to sleep or try to sleep for 4 hours.The rest of us, we organise ourselves for sun hat, suncream, sun glasses, sun anything to stay away from thesun until 6ish tonight. All happy on board despite theheat increasing. We are sailing upwind at about 11knots. And according to our screen on-board, the seatemperature is at 26 degrees (nice and warm! althoughwe shall never know as we do not stop for a littledip!) The depth is about 30 meters and we have justover 10 miles to our next mark to continue ontoMonserrat and the rest of this race.

Hats to our boat captain!

We are pursuing our sail from Saint Martin from thenorth to Guadeloupe to the south. Down below in theboat is a real sauna! The outside temperature whichmust be over 30 degrees since we have no shadow, thesea water is already 26 degrees. Both combined turnsthis hull in a furnace. The hatch cannot be openbecause of the water which would end up inside theboat... Then for the freeze dried food, one needs toadd boiling water which is heated at the galley. Wealso need to have the motor on a little while tocharge the batteries. All this together makes theinside of the hull a real steam room during the day!No air conditioning, no shower, no fridge, no ice...,just the sun, the nice views, the good company andmost importantly our dedicated boat captain who turnsinto Chef for the 21 meals to be cooked in this heat(maybe 25 degrees with some humidity) with a 25%healed angle boat! Hats off!

GBR5091T. Team White Knight now round Saba and well enroute to St Barts.

Last night was ineresting especially for the 4 pax on board for whom it

was their first night at sea on ayacht. From Barbuda to Nevis we had

several squalls and at one point we were beating when we were expecting to

be running! Have now used most of the sail inventory less the storm

canvass. Last night eventually settled down to run, gybe then reach north

under the big kite. Not sure but hoping we may have pulled back some of

the time we lost in start. Whatever we are enjoying great sailing in warm

blue waters and under sparking sun - less the odd squall. However the beat

to St Barts is currently challenging the chefs! Best for know . Paul

USA25555 Rambler The mighty Hetairos eventually caught us as we passed

Montseratt. Both are quite a sight and Hetairos made a show of it getting

within a boat length (her's of course) then bearing away to accelerate

through our lee. I could not help but sit in awe of the sheer power

generated in a boat of her size. We are still pushing hard and hope to

catch up at Guadeloupe.

USA25555 Rambler approaching Montserrat and feeling as if we are the pawn

in a Packman game being chased by the 60m Hetairos. She's chomping away at

our lead and close enough to identify her spreaders. The Rambler is easing

along at 13knots in 10knots wind under full main jib top and staysail. We

know Hetairos will pass us but how we she handle the Guadeloupe calm in a

few hours time. I'll let you know.

The 4th Caribbean 600 got off with nary a hitch Monday morning, the diverse fleet beating off the line in 10-12 knots and warm sunshine, with the forecast 15-20 just a flight of fancy. PUR (Puerto Rico) 11, little Smile and Wave won the mixed IRC start and proceeded to hold off most of the IRC fleet for hours.

We've been through about one sail change per hour for the first 18, it is gorgeous rounding these lush islands every few hours, and everyone, everywhere should do this race! All the distance of the Fastnet or Hobart, even better scenery and breeze, and one tenth the clothing.

I'm going to get a little sleep now, hope you keep tracking the race and enjoy this little intro and day one video of Puerto Rico's stars!

--

Meredith Block

www.BlockSail.com

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248 808 4086

Hi from the weather rail of Rambler. We've been watching a sail on the horizon creep up on us over the past 5 hours - we are on the race's longest (145 mile) leg and its a fast jib reach. The boat coming up from behind is of course, Hetairos, the giant ketch. This is a leg perfectly suited to her strength.. straight line reaching speed. Its only a matter of a few hours and she'll be past us unless things get tricky... which appears unlikely until our next turning mark - Guadeloupe, one of the trickiest parts of this race track.. as we sail below (downwind) of the biggest and tallest island on the course. Last year on Rambler100 - we drifted for a few hours in Guadeloupe's wind shadow and that sort of tricky sailing might give us a chance to make some gains on Hetairos... time will tell.

Beautiful sailing on deck.. t shirt - shorts and everyone but the helmsman grinders and trimmers hiking out.. Lots of flying fish going aerial to get away from our bow wave. It's plenty hot down below though...as most hatches are shut to keep spray from coming in. we just enjoyed our first freeze dried meal.. a beef stew that was popular amongst the crew. The watch system is being strictly adhered to now - no sail changes in the last few hours so hopefully everyone will be charged up for the battle under Guadeloupe and the rest of the race.

We've seen much shiftier and lighter winds than last year when the Rambler100 set the monohull course record... that record is definitely secure until 2013 at the earliest

USA 25554 Rambler Squalls sail change squall sail change - this is what

the RC600 has produced so far. Certainly not dull but a lot of work for

the crew. Decisions are carefully made as sail changes are not quickly and

easily put right if the call is wrong. It's very calm on this boat even if

the weather is confounding us.