The 600 Sweet Spot
by Mark Jardine 4 Mar 18:00 GMT
Reaching the Fastnet Rock is a significant moment in the Rolex Fastnet Race © Rolex / Daniel Forster
The world of offshore racing is booming around the world. Record entries, some of the world's fastest yachts and highest profile campaigns, and a plethora of Corinthian teams have the 'classics' on their bucket list.
The clamour is so great for some, such as the Rolex Fastnet Race, that entering is more like joining a Ticketmaster queue for a Taylor Swift concert. I don't think we've seen touts selling Fastnet spots outside the RORC Cowes clubhouse yet, but when 217 yachts registered in the first minute of entries opening, you know demand is high.
These events have hit the sweet spot, and they know it. They've got the formula right, and the distance of 600(ish) nautical miles seems to satisfy demand.
Some of these races have been around for a long time, with the first Newport Bermuda Race held in May 1906. The establishment back then thoughts it would be insane for amateur sailors to race offshore in boats under 80 feet while the editor of 'The Rudder' magazine, Thomas Fleming Day, disagreed and founded the 635 nautical mile race.
Then we have the Rolex Fastnet Race, celebrating its centenary in 2025, and at 695 nautical miles it's one of the longer of this category of offshore race. The course may have changed, with the finish now in Cherbourg as opposed to the original Plymouth, but the challenge remains the same.
The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race course is 628 nautical miles and was first run in 1945 and has become a Boxing Day institution, with most offshore sailors having it on their list of must-do events.
Then came the 606 nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race, a relative newbie with the first edition in 1968, but taking in a breathtaking course which starts and finishes in Malta, taking an anticlockwise course around Sicily and a set of islands that includes the smoking volcanic Stromboli in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The real youngsters though are the RORC Caribbean 600, which has just been held and was first contested in 2009, the 605 nautical mile Aegean 600 which only started in 2021 and then the 630 nautical mile Baltic Sea Race, which was founded just three years ago in 2022.
Barring a mythical ideal run, you're always going to sail more miles than that, but it seems to be that the sweet spot for attracting a large entry for an offshore race is 600. There are some distance outliers, such as the 704 nautical mile Round Ireland Race and the 350 nautical mile Gotland Runt (first sailed in 1937). Both have a loyal following and it's tricky to see how or why either could adjust their course length to fall into the sweet spot.
The yachts which excel in these distance races can sometimes be surprising. In recent times the Rolex Sydney Hobart Tattersall Cup winner has been 52 foot or above for a decade, while the Rolex Fastnet Race has been more varied, with the multiple tidal gates playing a huge part in the overall outcome. It's a yacht designed for far longer offshore racing though which has gained favour and silverware recently in these 600 classics - the VO70.
The Volvo Open 70 was first used in the 2005-06 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, so these are pedigree round the world race yachts. For the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Dr Sam Haynes chartered Willow (nee Maserati and originally Ericsson 3), calling her Celestial V70 for the event, and went on to win the coveted Tattersall Cup for the overall win on corrected time.
Another VO70 was Groupama 4, winner of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, which became Giacomo to won the 2016 Rolex Sydney Hobart, then renamed Wizard, and is now owned by Christian Zugel and called Tschüss 2. Together with co-skipper Johnny Mordaunt the team has just won the RORC Caribbean 600 and have amassed a string of victories in the past 12 months.
I spoke to Johnny to find out why they went for a VO70 and what it takes to keep one running and what the appeal is of the 600-mile classics:
"I think Juan K (Juan Kouyoumdjian, the designer of Tschüss 2) is pretty stoked with this particular boat, because it has won a lot of trophies, we're basically custodians of it. These 600-mile races do appeal to a lot of boats, and not just a big boat, and there are quite a few smaller boats doing it as well including all the JPK1180 boats such as Dawn Treaders and Sunrise - they're always lurking in the background.
In Christian and Johnny's hands, and with a strong team around them, the boat continued its winning ways, picking up line honours and the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl in the 2023 Round the Island Race, then smashing the Gotland Runt Offshore Race record, as well setting a monohull record and taking overall honours in the 2024 Roschier Baltic Sea Race:
"In 2023 we were keen to go sailing and we managed to get the boat out a little bit early. We did a massive training period in Gosport and on the Isle of Wight, just to give the crew some days and we thought let's do the Round the Island Race. Winning the Gold Roman Bowl was brilliant as it was something I used to read and dream about as a kid.
"We then went on to win the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race, and then after a bit of a tidy-up of the boat over that winter, last year we won the Gotland Runt and Baltic Sea Race."
Finding young, talented and hard-working sailors to be part of the Tschüss 2 team has been interesting, with some sailors wanting everything handed to them on a plate, but he has found a gem in Ed Myers, who is now 25 years old:
"We had the refit period in Lymington when I put the feelers out and Ed rocked up. He fitted in really well and was one of the few that wanted to work and wanted to go sailing. He's been with me for the whole tour up to Sweden and Finland. At the very start, he was happy to drive the RIB and it wasn't that long before he was on the boat. He works well with the likes of Neil McDonald on the rig and has learned so much from the experienced sailors.
"Not all the people I've tried have seen what an incredible opportunity it is to sail with the like of Neil and Stu (Bannatyne). If you put in the hard yards early on, you'll get pulled through the system and the opportunities are there."
Next up for Tschüss 2 is a passage to Newport, and the Transatlantic Race which starts on 18th June, which is more the type of race that the boat was originally designed for, followed by the Rolex Fastnet Race which starts on 26th July.
The classic 600 races are hitting the sweet spot with sailors, and Christian and Johnny seem to have found their own sweet ride for them. Let's see how long their winning streak continues!
Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor