RORC 600 Class 40 division won by Owen Clarke's #149
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UK designers Owen Clarke Design’s #149 Finimmo arrived first in the Class 40 division in the 2022 RORC 600 in a thrilling finish, beating #156 Guidi by a mere 61 seconds after three days of racing. #149, launched as Hydra five years ago this week, took the lead briefly from Guidi at Barbuda, who then led for the majority of the race up until the last three miles. Finimmo was sailed by a team of four; Herve Thomas, Benoit de Froidmont, Gerald Veniard and four-time Vendée Globe sailor Kito de Pavant. Figarist Gerald Veniard, taking part in his second race, commented:
“Our goal was to finish in the top three. We had a good start and were the first Class40 at Barbuda, but then Guidi came back and smashed us downwind. We got back at them at St Maarten but then they extended on the downwind leg to Guadeloupe. Our strategy for Guadeloupe did not work at all. After that we were 20 miles behind and we thought the race was lost. It was a big surprise to see Guidi was offshore and now had wind after Redonda. So, it was like the icing on the cake to take the lead after a match race to the finish.”
The Sam Manuard designed Mach40.3 Guidi was sailed by: Charles-Louis Mourruau who was taking part in his third race and was joined by Andrea Fantini and Class 40 veteran Mikael Ryking.
“Myself and Andrea Fantini just did the Transat Jacques Vabre and we had shifty conditions, so we kind of knew what to expect, but we didn’t expect there to be so little wind after Redonda, that was really brutal,” commented Charles-Louis Mourruau. “Finimmo sailed an amazing race. The boat used to be called Hydra and we were joking that every time they came back at us it was like chopping off one of the heads! I am happy for them because they fought really hard. Although Guidi is a more modern boat, Finimmo is a little narrower (note from OC – incorrect: boat is at the Class maximum beam, but is designed to be polyvalant) with a big code zero, so very quick in the light. We were very unlucky at the end, but that is sailing, isn’t it?"
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Third place Vicitan #134 followed in the footpaths of the first duo a little over four hours later.
Happy birthday #149!
