SCHOONERMEN in the CARIBBEAN 600
hen Alexander Cochran ordered the 135ft steel schooner Westward from the board of Nathaniel Herreshoff in 1909, he had no notion his vision would bring together an eclectic bunch of sailors to race in the Eastern Caribbean over a century later. Under the command of legendary Scottish Captain Charlie Barr, Westward swept across the Atlantic in 1910 to take 11 firsts in 11 starts against the finest opposition Europe could produce, including the all-conquering Royal Yacht Britannia and the German Kaiser’s Nordstern.
Ninety years to the day aft er the launch of Westward, a perfect replica came down the ways at the Van der Graaf Shipyard in Holland. Her name was Eleonora. Like Westward before her, Eleonora was created to race, but, apart from gatherings of classics, competition is hard to find in the 21st century over courses of a scale that suits her. Round-the-cans aft ernoon dashes are a serious workout for crews handling spinnakers and gollywobblers the size of Walmart parking lots; the boat is hardly into her stride before all the interesting stuff has to come back down again for the next leg.
The RORC Caribbean 600, on the other hand, is tailor-made for big schooners. Set across the northeast tradewinds among the islands around Antigua, it features reaches of up to 150 miles, one or two stiff beats and the odd shortish, I threw my busy winter diary out of the nearest porthole and hopped a jet to the islands.
