Aegean 600

Last winter, while I was on a delivery trip from Martinique to Cuba, the RORC Caribbean 600 was taking place, in which the ORC 57 #3 Avel Vaez was entered.
At the time, I had teased Yves, the catamaran’s owner, about his multihull’s poor performance, telling him in a slightly pretentious manner that if he needed a crew member to help him race his boat in another race, I was his man... A few weeks later, I received an invitation to come and do the Aegean 600 with him - now I was going to have to live up to my word!

Tactical Demands

These “600” races combine tactical demands, physical commitment, and breathtaking scenery. Neither too long nor too short, they encapsulate the essence of modern offshore racing: non-stop sailing over several days, decisive weather strategies, key passages to negotiate... enough to appeal to both knowledgeable amateurs and professional crews.
The Aegean 600 is held, as its name suggests, in the Aegean Sea (Greece) every year in early July, a period when the Meltemi is not yet too strong and the probability of encountering rain is close to zero. It’s much nicer to race in a T-shirt than to in serious foul weather gear like on the Fastnet Race in early August, isn’t it?
There were 60 entries for the 2025 edition, including eight multihulls: Allegra, an 84-foot one-off designed by Nigel Irens with a crew of world champions; Picomole, a Rapido 53XS crewed by experienced Italian racers, Baie du Monde 2 - a customized TS52.8, Lynx - an Outremer 4X with a Greek crew, Dakota - a Baramundi 52 designed by Lerouge, Cuordi - an ORC 50, the small IC36 Stellar and, of course, Avel Vaez, our ORC 57.

The ORC 57: One Hell of a Machine!

The ORC 57, a plan by Lombard Design, is the big sistership to the ORC 42 and 50. Originally produced in Lorient, Brittany, by Marsaudon Composites, this model was then taken over and is now manufactured by Grand Large Yachting. The program of Avel Vaez is to sail on charter, as intended by its owner, who already owned a Catana.
The catamaran has been slightly customized: no large glass windows, but a watertight door worthy of the name and an additional seat that allows more people to sit around the cockpit table.
Like all other multihulls in the ORC range, it is a powerful and demanding boat, which requires you to always sail “in front” of the machine, otherwise you risk getting a bit scared at best, and breaking equipment at worst. On the plus side, it can cover incredible distances in 24 hours, and it is a delight to helm this boat with a tiller, while enjoying all the comforts of a large multihull. In its initial design, this catamaran was not intended for racing, so it is not equipped with a large spinnaker or Code 0 - we therefore have to take this into account in our sailing strategy.
Avel Vaez is fairly new, having been launched only 18 months ago, but she has already sailed a long way, as we were to pass the 20,000-mile mark during the race!
For the purposes of the race, the catamaran was ...