Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/544403
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 JULY 2015 20 Sport SPORTTODAY SAILING FOOTBALL Another large fleet expected for the 36th Edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race WITH less than three months to go, the Royal Malta Yacht Club is expecting another great f leet for the 36th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race next October. Entries for the 606 nautical mile race are rapidly coming in with over fifty boats from eight- een countries already on the list. Prominent among these is one of the newest and arguably the fastest 100' maxi, Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark 's Comanche. Ken Read, skipper of Comanche and of President North Sails Group told the RMYC: "Coman- che was designed and built to push the boundaries of technol- ogy with the ultimate goal of winning prestigious yacht races, and they don't come much bet- ter than the Rolex Middle Sea Race. It is an honour to compete in the 36th edition of this Euro- pean classic which will be the perfect culmination of a busy summer season of Rolex events as Comanche is due to race in both the Transatlantic and Fast- net Race. As ever, our crew will be pushing hard for line honours but we're simply looking forward to racing Comanche in the Rolex Middle Sea race for the first time and enjoying everything that Malta has to offer." Read is no newcomer to the race having been the skipper with George David on Rambler when they established the current Course Record of 47 hours 55 minutes and 3 seconds in 2007. The race has been popular with the Maxi 72 class and counts for the Maxi 72 Med Trophy. The class is so far represented by Roberto Tomasini Grinover's Robertissma III, which is mak- ing a welcome return after miss- ing the race in 2014 and Dieter Schon's Momo, which is new to the race. Other boats from this exciting class could follow. The diverse f leet is continu- ously growing and includes many very competitive boats as well as some large multihulls. The race follows a long but varied course in which smaller boats can com- pete against the biggest and the best and sometimes even win. Indeed, in 2014 it was Lee Satari- ano's J122, Artie from Malta that was the overall winner. The 100 foot (30.5m) hull length limit has been lifted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Malta Yacht Club for the 2015 editions of the Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Middle Sea Races. This will allow supermax- is to compete in these two races which, together with the Carib- bean 600 and the Transatlantic Race, will make up the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series. The Notice of Race for the 2015 Rolex Middle Sea Race has been published and can be accessed on the event's official website www.rolexmiddlesearace.com or collected from the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The Rolex Middle Sea Race starts on Saturday, 17th October 2015. The final Prize Giving ceremo- ny will be held on Saturday, 24th October 2015. Entries may be submitted on line through the event website and close on 2nd October 2015. Muller could join Manchester United - Lahm Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm admits he cannot guarantee that Thomas Muller will not follow Bastian Schweinsteiger to Manchester United REPORTS in Germany have claimed that United are preparing to table a big-money move for the forward. "It's not my decision," Lahm told reporters in Shanghai, before Bay- ern's match against Inter Milan in a pre-season friendly. "Things can happen very quickly in football. "I certainly can't provide any guarantee for Thomas Muller (staying)." Lahm did insist there was no chance of him leaving Bayern, though. "That's not going to happen with me," he said. "I'm pleased that I've been able to spend practically all my career at home. "It's great to be in the same club for so long." And Lahm is not concerned about Bayern, who have dominat- ed German football for the past three years, losing their domestic dominance. "We're still a top club," he said. "We've reached at least the semi- finals of the Champions League in recent years and we have a top team who would be playing at the top in any league. "We certainly don't need to have any fear." Thomas Muller is wanted by Manchester United Another international appointment for Marco Borg UEFA has appointed FIFA Ref- eree Marco Borg to take charge of the Europa League 2nd Qualify- ing Round return leg match, FC Differdange 03 (Luxembourg) vs Trabzonspor A.S. (Turkey), being played in Stade Josy Barthel (Lux- embourg) on Thursday 23 July 2015 at 1900. The other match officials ap- pointed by the Malta FA Refereeing Department shall be FIFA Assist- ant Referee Duncan Sultana, Elite Assistant Referee Luke Portelli and Elite Referee Trustin Farrugia Cann as 4th Official. UEFA has appointed Igor Pris- tovnik (Croatia) to assess the per- formance of the Maltese match officials, while David Findlay (Scot- land) shall be the Match Delegate. The 1stleg matchin Turkey last week was won 1-0 by Trabzonspor A.S.