Andrew Berdon pushing his Marten 49 SUMMER STORM through the Caribbean’s azure waters to second place in IRC 1 in the 2019 RORC Caribbean 600.
Congratulations to the crew of the Marten 49 SUMMER STORM for finishing second in IRC Class 1 in the 2019 RORC Caribbean 600. For most of the 625-mile race around 11 islands in the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands, the easterly tradewinds blew 18-22 knots making it a fast and physically exhausting race. SUMMER STORM had a handful of new sails for the race and her new UK Sailmakers Fractional Code Zero was a standout. “I was impressed by the sail’s range,” said SUMMER STORM’s owner and skipper Andrew Berdon. “At one point, we were using it to power reach in 20 knots at 120 degrees true wind angle. But it was equally useful when we were ghosting along the lee of the 5000 foot volcanic island of Guadeloupe. There we got the sail drawing in light and variable winds between 90 and 140 degrees true wind angle. It really defied the crossover chart.”
The Marten 49 SUMMER STORM just head of the Santa Cruz 52 SIN DUDA! just after the start of the 2019 Caribbean 600.
UK Sailmakers chief sail designer, who designed SUMMER STORM’s, Code Zero, sailed the Caribbean 600 Lindsay Duda’s Santa Cruz 52 SIN DUDA! and was in the same class as SUMMER STORM. SIN DUDA! kept close to SUMMER STORM until rounding Guadeloupe. Both boats chose to stay close to the island, but SIN DUDA! was a mere third of mile outside of SUMMER STORM and that made a huge difference. SUMMER STORM got around the tall island three hours ahead of SIN DUDA!, which cost the Santa Cruz 52 two places in the race.
