Jason Carroll’s Argo Resets the Antigua 360 Benchmark Ahead of the RORC Caribbean 600
Jason Carroll’s MOD70 Argo stormed around the 48-nautical-mile circumnavigation in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds, rewriting what is possible on Antigua’s classic coastal course.
The numbers tell one story. The breeze told another.
With 20 knots at the start and proper Atlantic swell wrapping the eastern flank of Antigua, the island delivered a course that was anything but flat water exhibition sailing. This was full trade-wind pressure, the kind that loads up the rig and punishes hesitation.
“It was a beautiful day for sailing and a fantastic lap around Antigua,” said owner-driver Jason Carroll. “We chose one reef at the start, which felt right. We sailed it relatively conservatively, didn’t leave much out there. One bad tack where we ended up in irons probably cost us a minute — but otherwise it was smooth all the way.”
Smooth, at 30-plus knots.
Lighting It Up at Green Island
Every MOD70 crew knows the moment the Antigua 360 truly begins. You round Green Island, bear away, and the boat transforms.
Sam Goodchild, on board for the record run and lining up again for the RORC Caribbean 600, described it plainly:
“It really comes alive once you turn at Green Island and light it up on the reach. You’re straight into proper trade-wind sailing, touching the mid-30s. That’s where preparation and precision matter.”
At those speeds, the margin for error disappears. Manoeuvres must be clean. Communication constant. Other boats close distance at alarming rates. Spray blasts through the nets and the helmsman is reading waves at motorway velocity.
Goodchild is clear about what the 360 provides:
“There are far more ways to lose a race than to win one. These days before the 600 are about detail. Getting the boat 100 percent. Getting the team dialled in.”
The Antigua 360 is not a trophy dash. It is rehearsal under load.
Zoulou Joins the Fight
MOD70 rivalry rarely lacks drama, and Final Final – Zoulou made sure of that. Skippered by Jon Desmond, Zoulou crossed the line just 18 minutes and 19 seconds after Argo — hardly distant in a race this short and this fast.
For Desmond, it was a baptism by Caribbean trade wind.
“That was unbelievable. 20 knots, big waves, proper pressure. First time lining up against Argo in a MOD70 — adrenaline was high.”
He described the defining moment familiar to all multihull sailors:
“Once you crack off and the big gennaker goes up, the boat just lights up. We saw 36 knots at times. They feel incredibly powerful, but stiff and controlled.”
That stiffness — the ability to push hard without the boat feeling loose — is what makes the MOD70 platform such a weapon in Caribbean conditions.
For Zoulou, the 360 was more than a record attempt. It was the first full test of race manoeuvres, angles and teamwork ahead of Monday’s main event.
More Than a Record
Argo’s new elapsed time of 2:29:20 does more than sit in the record books. It resets expectations.
The Antigua 360 has long been regarded as a sharp, technical, high-speed island circuit. But this year’s conditions — mid-teens to 20 knots, Atlantic chop on the east side, flat acceleration on the leeward legs — created a course that demanded both aggression and restraint.
Carroll was candid about the balance:
“It’s great to be back with the boys pushing hard again. Now we’ve got a couple of days to cool our heels, fine-tune things and get ready.”
That readiness matters. Because the 360 is only the prelude.
Eyes on the Caribbean 600
With the course record shattered and the MOD70 rivalry fully engaged, attention turns to the 600-mile offshore test starting 23 February.
If the Antigua 360 was a dress rehearsal, the RORC Caribbean 600 will be the full production: longer legs, darker nights, routing decisions around Guadeloupe and Barbuda, and sustained trade-wind power.
The signs are clear.
Argo is quick. Zoulou is close. The trade winds are set.
And in the Caribbean, speed rarely goes unchallenged.
Salt in the air. Mid-30s on the dial.