Greg Slyngstad’s mighty Paul Bieker designed 53-footer Fujin catamaran tearing it up on this year’s Caribbean 600 race.
The 600-mile race is a gathering for some of the coolest boats on the planet winding their way in a complex course around the islands at Antigua. With stiff tradewinds and warm waters, it’s an epic race.
Last year Fujin, with a crew of hotshot Seattle sailors onboard, capsized in dramatic fashion on the first night. The boat has been put back together and is certainly at least as fast as it ever was.
That was last year. This year after the first night they’re in third place on the water with only the two Mod 70 trimarans ahead. Fujin’s leading on the multihulls on corrected time. Just behind Fujin is a Volvo 70 monohull skippered by Charlie Enright.
As we did last year, we’ll followup Fujin’s exploits. In the meantime, check out the Caribbean 600 website. There’s a Facebook feed that shows updates from some of the boats, including audio. (I just listened to Pip Hare describing her race on Class 40 Hydra. The website is caribbean600.rorc.org where you’ll find the tracker and FB feed.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.