Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/442526
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 JANUARY 2015 Sport SAILING BASKETBALL CYCLING First race of the year for Royal Malta Yacht Club AN attractive scene was to be enjoyed at Marsamxett Harbour last Satur- day morning when boats taking part in the Royal Malta Yacht Club's first race for 2015 hoisted their spinnakers for what was described as an almost perfect race due to the relatively con- stant wind. Starting in Marsamxett Harbour, fourteen boats racing in three dif- ferent classes sailed towards the Val- letta Harbour Fairway Buoy heading towards the tuna pens situated off St. Paul's Bay and sailing towards and around the Island of Comino and heading back to the Tuna Pens and the Valletta Fairway Buoy before fin- ishing off in Marsamxett Harbour. "We are very pleased that the, well attended, first race of the year took place in excellent weather especially since we had some challenging weath- er conditions in the last races of 2014." said Godwin Zammit, Royal Malta Yacht Club Commodore. "Naturally we are grateful towards Medcomms Malta who have been supporting the Club for a number of years". Participating boats were split into three classes – IRC Racer 1 Class, IRC Racer 2 Class and IRC Cruiser Class. Whilst weather conditions were gen- erally good, a few boats broached on the downwind leg and although no serious damage was reported, four boats were forced to retire from the race. IRC Racer 1 Class First Place - Elusive BOV, Arthur Podesta Second Place - TonTon, Jonathan Gambin/ Matthew Scicluna Overall and IRC Racer 1 Class Win- ners, members of the crew sailing on Elusive BOV commented about their first race of 2015 which saw them battle it out against a good number of seasoned competitors. With a reasonable good wind vary- ing between 14 -22 knots, it was up- wind all the way to Comino with a lot of tacking up along the coast of Malta. Wind was fluky which meant that it was changing directions vary- ing approximately 20 degrees. Most boats took advantage of the wind shifts. Tacking away from the coast meant that boats experienced higher waves which tend to slow the boats a bit down so many opted to stay close to land, tackling smaller waves. However higher waves were in- evitable upon reaching the St. Paul's Bay fish farms. Spinnakers were once again hoisted close to the Cominotto Cardinal Buoy and kept up all the way down to the Fairway Buoy, where it was a close reach to the finish. IRC Racer 2 Class First Place - Lightning, Ale Manduca/Mat- thew Farrugia Second Place - Sailaway, Ray Schembri Third Place - Time Out, Mario Sant Matthew Farrugia, skipper of Light- ning and winner of the IRC Racer 2 Class commented that conditions for Saturday's race were almost perfect – sunny, not too cold, a strong breeze, and manageable waves. The wind was a little unsettled at the start, but once the crew rounded the Fairway buoy and started heading to Comino, the breeze steadied out at 15 to 18 knots. The crew sailed close to shore on the northbound leg, to take advantage of the wind-shifts and gusts coming out of the valleys, and to avoid the off- shore current. As the crew rounded Comino, the wind began increasing slightly but by the time Ahrax point, off Mellieha, was reached the wind had increased to 20 – 22 knots. An exhilarating run down to the finish, surfing down the waves and regularly reaching speeds in excess of 12 knots saw Lightning and its crew securing first place in their Class IRC Cruiser Class First Place - Xplane, Sean Borg Second Place - Puddleduck, Chris Selvagi Third Place - Aziza, Sandro Musu' For the young Sean Borg, Xplane's experienced skipper and winner for the IRC Cruiser Class racing is all about fun. The crew, made up of a group of friends, were in super party mode with music blar- ing throughout the race and a few practical jokes thrown in for good measure. Starting off in a bit of a light patch, this changed a few me- tres away from the Fairway Buoy. A constant upwind towards Comino enabled the crew to gath- er speed. When overtaken by two faster boats, the team decided to go for a big, 180 sqm A sail in the superfast downwind conditions. With wind speeds over 30 knots at points in time, boat speed was solid over 10 knots. Reaching a maximum speed of 12.9 knots, this was an extremely fast speed for a boat that weighs 14 tonnes. Safety being a priority the team decided to put the kite down 5 minutes be- fore rounding the Fairway Buoy, losing the team a few minutes, however this tactic was something all boats had to carry out, which enabled the Xplane Crew to keep the strong lead. Borg thanked his team, with a special mention going to Chris Fenech for hanging on the rope outside the boat while solving a problem on the A Sail in windy conditions. The 2015 Medcomms Coastal Race Prize Giving ceremony was held at the Royal Malta Yacht Club. Commodore Godwin Zam- mit congratulated the winners and together with Mark Gaglione, Medcomms Malta representative, distributed prizes to the winners in the three classes. More information on the Race and forthcoming races organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club can be obtained b yvisiting www.rmyc.org. Elusive BOV - Overall and IRC Racer 1 Class Winner. Photo by RMYC/Maria Vella-Galea Amelia Simmons (Honey Athleta) Enervit player of the month for November 2014 THE Enervit Women player of the month for the month of Novembru was won by Honey Athleta's American player Amelia Simmons. For Simmons, this was her 1st success in the player of the month award after joining Athleta last summer. In Novem- ber Athleta reched the St. James Hospital Knock-out final as she scored the last bas- ket of Athleta's semi-final against Hibs. Amelia Simmons contributed to these results by scoring 102 points ending as the months best scorer with an average of 25.50 points per game and played an aver- age of 36.43 minutes per game. Amelia also feature an average of 4.50 suffered fouls per game, 14.55 rebounds, 1.64 steals and 1.18 assists per game. She was presented this award by Ottavio Ter- ribile Director of the Malta Basketball As- sociation. Ottavio Terribile presenting the award to Amelia Simmons BRADLEY Wiggins has extended his contract with Team Sky to the end of April as the former Tour de France winner bids to close out his road cycling career with victory in the Paris-Roubaix one- day classic The 34-year-old, who will con- centrate on track cycling after April with the aim of winning team pursuit gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, wanted to enter the one-day race with Sky because they receive an automatic entry. "Everyone knows what this team means to me, so I'm really pleased to extend my contract until the end of April 2015," the three- times Olympic track champion told Sky Sports on Monday. "Just to be part of that race and to be there again in the final would be an amazing way to go out." Wiggins became Britain's first Tour de France champion in 2012. He has also won the Paris- Nice race, the Tour de Romandie and two editions of the Criterium du Dauphine. Wiggins extends Sky deal and targets Paris-Roubaix Bradley Wiggins