The Most Beautiful Course in the World?(Gzira, Malta)- American tycoon Ted Turner once described the Rolex Middle Sea Race course, a 606 nm route circumnavigating Sicily and its neighboring islands, as the ‘most beautiful in the world’. It is a tour that on October 18, a fleet of 123 yachts is expected to start, eclipsing the current record of 99 entries set last year.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race has seen USA boats take the title on four occasions and, for one, George David’s RAMBLER set the record in 2007 (47:55:03). Ironically, as avid J/24 sailors in their pasts, both David and Ken Read (America’s Cup & Volvo Ocean Race veteran and 5x J/24 World Champion) were on board for the record run.
“The front arrived with five visible water spouts, perfectly defined and rather large, they brought a big lump to your throat,”‘ commented Ken Read after finishing. “The third appeared in front of us and the last two formed within a couple hundred yards of Rambler. The water would start foaming and spinning in a 50 metre circle right in front of our eyes. A wild sight that I will not forget for a long time.”
“Then came the breeze, and with it, 25-57 knots of wind for the next 20 hours. The front hatch blew off its hinges and about two hours of bailing followed this little glitch in the program. As soon as you thought you had a breather, another squall hit. Right up to the finish, where we had 53 knots of wind five minutes before entering the harbour in Malta. During one very violent squall we were literally flying off the waves – surfing at over 30 knots.
“When George bought Rambler he asked that we sail in events that would show him how tough the oceans can be – ‘Well George, I think we nailed that one’.”
While the fleet of J/Teams participating in this year’s RMSR may not break the outright record, some of their teams have been known to break another even more notable record, the ability to win their classes and overall a number of times.
The
event’s fascination is largely drawn from its alluring,
608-nautical-mile racecourse – a rigorous anti-clockwise loop around
Sicily that introduces numerous “corners” that present changing and
complex meteorological shifts. The route includes the deep azure waters
around Sicily including the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as
Pantelleria and Lampedusa. One of the most stunning vistas is Stromboli,
the active volcano that is a course mark.Godwin Zammit, Commodore of the Royal Malta YC, commented about the success of the Rolex Middle Sea Race: “The interest in the race has been growing year on year and with entries up over 20% on last year's record entry, the Royal Malta YC organized additional berths for competing yachts. Including family and friends of the competing crews, we estimate that well over a thousand people will be visiting Malta for the race. There are many reasons why the race is proving so popular, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has a long association with the race and it is now part of their season's points championship and many of the 18 yachts that have come from Great Britain are doing so for that reason and there is a strong contingent from Italy with 33 yachts visiting from nearby.”
Last year, IRC 3 division came to a dramatic conclusion with David Anastasi's J/133 OILTANKING JUNO winning the class by under three minutes. The class of over 25 yachts has strength and depth, including the class winner of the 2014 Cape to Rio Race (Iskareen) and Class winner of the 2014 RORC Caribbean 600, the British entry Sleeper.
IRC
4 division has over 30 entrants and is arguably the most competitive
class. The most successful Maltese yacht of the modern era will be
racing in IRC 4. In 2011, Lee Satariano's J/122 ARTIE, co-skippered by
Christian Ripard and with an all-Maltese crew, won the race overall!
ARTIE will be returning to the race course this year with a real chance
of winning. However, last year the outstanding Maltese entry was Aaron
and Edward Gatt Floridia's J/122 OTRA VEZ, which was the winner of IRC 4
and the first Maltese boat after time correction. Yet another J/122,
DAMACLE sailed by Roy Caramagno from Italy, will be joining the fray and
hopes to continue the J/122 tradition of winning class and overall!Not to be outdone by her larger sisterships, the J/109 JARHEAD, sailed by Greg Nasmyth from Great Britain, hopes to eclipse IRC 5 Class and give the rest of the big boys a run-for-the-money overall! It has been done before! Thanks for contribution from Louay Habib. Find Rolex Middle Sea Race on Facebook
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