Stunning Fleet for RORC Caribbean 600 Feb 18,2019

From Team Maserati:
MASERATI MULTI 70’S SOLENT IS DAMAGED
February 19, 2019
This morning (local time) Maserati Multi 70 suffered a quite significant damage: the torsional cable zip socket of the solent (the main headsail) broke down.

Giovanni Soldini explains from aboard: “We haven’t been able to use the solent for a few hours. With strong wind and big waves it’s a mess, but we’re working on it and we think we can make a makeshift repair”.

At 13.30 local time (17.30 UTC) Maserati Multi 70 is still in the lead, with 10 miles of advantage over Argo, sailing at 18 knots of speed 146 miles away from the finish line.
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Hope they get it working!!!!
UPDATE: as of 12:55 Maserati is back up to 27.5 knots-still a bit slow.....

 

At 2:37pm eastern ,Maserati is doing 28 (and so is Argo) and holding her 10 mile lead. Should be done in around 4-5 hours. Both are way ahead of the Phaedo record!
At 3:48 pm I think there is still trouble on Maserati.......

Maserati Flying:

 

6:09 pm eastern: Maserati still in front but just barely. Argo listed as first in class and Maserati first in line honors. They're within 20 miles of the finish and they both have tacked toward the lighter air.
UPDATE:6:16pm -they've tacked back south......
South of the course the wind is stronger. Given the trouble Maserati had with their solent(and ,I believe,something else*) I'm not sure tacking a lot will work out too well.
*they also had a rudder problem
It's a shame its an upwind finish given Maserati's damage.....
Maserati is now slower than Argo and only 1 mile in front.
This is close, very close.
6:56 pm: one last tack for Maserati-about 45 minutes to the finish.About a mile ahead of Argo.
7:06 PM Both boats will have to over to port tack to finish. Close, very close.......

GO MASERATI!!!!

 

Maserati is maintaining her 2 mile lead with 1.6 miles to go. I think she's got it.......
Apparently something happened right at the finish and they're saying Argo won. Damn, what could have happened -According to the tracker Maserati was clearly at the finish line ahead of Argo? By a couple miles!
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UPDATE-tracker changed back to show Maserati first in Line Honors-whew! Congrats to Team Maserati for the win and for terrific sportsmanship in waiting the two hours for Argo!!! And congratulations to Argo for the "handicap*" win and for the tremendous race with Maserati!


MASERATI WINS!
And thanks to the generosity of Giovanni Soldini and his exceptional sportsmanship a new class was created specifically for this race allowing Argo to win on handicap!

Both boats beat Phaedo's record!

 

Wizard, the top monohull, is the next boat and it is hours and hours from the finish. Interestingly, the first two MOCRA multies Fujin and Falcon are behind Wizard......

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More: RORC Caribbean 600 Record and multihull line honours for Maserati Multi70 https://www.sail-world.com/news/214773/RORC-Caribbean-600-Record-for-Maserati-Multi70

 

Excerpt from today's message from Team Maserati-read the full message in the Maserati thread:

Maserati Multi 70 and American MOD 70 Argo, skippered by Jason Carroll, set off from Fort Charlotte, Antigua, at 14 local time (18 UTC and 19 Italian time) on Monday February 18th, competing in the Multi/MOD 70 class. The Royal Ocean Racing Club exceptionally created the class for the two trimarans, following the decision to delay their start to allow Argo’s Team to finish the repair work after they capsized during a training race on Friday.

The Team aboard Argo was very strong and skilled: “Argo’s crew is amazing,” explains Giovanni Soldini. “Brian Thompson managed Phaedo3for 6 years and he has all kinds of experiences, he really understands how these boats work, then there was also François Gabart (winner of the 2012-13 Vendée Globe and holder of the Around the World Singlehanded record –ed.): they’re all extremely professional and experienced people!”

Not many hours after the start, a few miles from Saba, Maserati Multi 70 and Argo took the lead of the multihulls fleet: around 19 local time (23 UTC), the Italian trimaran overtook DNA F4 Falcon, which set sail 2 hours and 20 minutes earlier. After rounding Saint Martin, around midnight on Tuesday February 19th local time (4 UTC) Maserati Multi 70 started speeding Southwards, reaching 37 knots of speed.

(bold emphasis dl)
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During the race Maserati lost their Solent for 5 hours and had relatively minor rudder trouble.
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Good video of the start of Maserati and Argo. Maserati got stuck tacking and Argo got off first but when Maserati got going she was higher and faster with much better motion than Argo in the waves.
Royal Ocean Racing Club https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOceanRacingClub/videos/vb.114838938553051/435438890613534/?type=2&theater

 

RORC Caribean 600 2019---from catsailingnews: RORC Caribbean 600 2019: Maserati Multi 70 grabs Blue Ribbon | Catamaran Racing, News & Design https://www.catsailingnews.com/2019/02/rorc-caribbean-600-2019-maserati-multi.html#more


Giovanni Soldini after winning the Race:


Excerpt from the most recent issue of EuroSail News:
The extraordinary events surrounding the battle for Multihull Line Honours will be remembered for years to come. Just 48 hours before the start of the 2019 RORC Caribbean 600, Jason Carroll's MOD 70 Argo (USA) capsized at high speed in training. It seemed impossible that Argo would be racing, but after a monumental effort by the sailing community in Antigua, Argo's crew and shore team, Argo miraculously made the impossible a reality.

On the day of the race start, Giovanni Soldini agreed to a two hour delay at Argo's request. An epic match race was to follow over 600 miles around 11 Caribbean islands, racing day and night, both multihulls recording over 30 knots of boat speed. At Redonda, the final island of the course, Argo made a great tactical move to close the gap on Maserati and an intense match race provided the final twist to this fantastic story. Soldini's Maserati held off Argo to win by just over seven minutes, after 30 hours of explosive action. Both Maserati and Argo broke the race record and the former champion skipper, Lloyd Thornburg congratulated both skippers on their achievements as they arrived back on the dock in Antigua.

"Offshore sailors have to deal with situations that are beyond their control and when we had the capsize, nobody's head went down, we simply worked hard at finding the solutions to get Argo back on the race track. The crew has really bonded through the experience," commented Argo's Brian Thompson -- Louay Habib

 

Good video: