J/109 Artie and J/105 Slingshot finished 1st & 2nd in class and nearly overtook 86-foot Maxi Morning Glory on corrected time for overall fleet honors at the 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race. The pair finished an impressive 2nd & 3rd overall in the fleet of 63 yachts. Other notable J/ finishes were J/133 Jam of Italy finishing 3rd in class and the former Middle Sea Overall winner Strait Dealer, a J/125 who this year took line honors for the first Maltese yacht to finish.
J/109 skipper Lee Satariano far exceeded his expectations by bringing his Artie home in second place overall, with the youngest crew in the fleet – average age of 25 years. “For us we were a very inexperienced crew, but what we did well was keep our motivation all the way through the race. We didn’t sleep for the last two days. We kept working even when we were stuck in no wind. We went out and enjoyed the whole race. Everyone works well together, I really enjoy the team we brought together for this race.”
J/105 Slingshot was sailed by a team of two, Britons Shaun Murphy and Ric Searle. Murphy feels that fewer crew brings many advantages, although he conceded: “What would have worked out better is if we could have sailed the first part of the race doublehanded and the last 36 hours fully crewed. We lacked the weight on the rail to be able to sail fast in the stronger breeze, and that might have been the difference between winning and losing." Complete details here...
