Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/739032
54 WILFRED SULTANA FORTY-EIGHT years ago, in 1968, an idea was conceived not based around the dream world of fables and fantasy but on the adventure of men and their boats in a test of strategy and skill. Triggered by a concept of Club members Jimmy White and Alan Green the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club co-founded the 606 nautical miles Middle Sea Race which from a mere beginning of eight starters grew into a "must do" command- ing Event particularly since af- firming Rolex as title sponsor. Today, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, now in its 37th edition and with a record entry of 122 boats in 2014 is proudly part of the Rolex World of Yachting featuring some of the most ancient and spectacu- lar sea races in the world. The Course Record of this offshore classic, established by Rambler (USA) in 2007, is 1day, 23 hours, 55 mins 3 secs. "In 1968 we were only eight starters, among them the famous Stormvogel and the Italian Navy Stella Polare. In 1970 there were 25 starters with Stormvogel and Stella Polare back again. Also of note was the famous One Tonner Kerkyra with Olympic Gold Medallist Ad- miral Straulino at the helm. "With my brother Paul and Ar- thur Podesta on board and a main- ly Maltese crew, Josian and Tikka II were the overall winners of the 1968 and 1970 Races respectively. On both occasions we were the only participating Maltese boat", recalls John Ripard Sr, winner of two of the first editions. John Ripard Sr believes that the Rolex Middle Sea Race was instru- mental in enhancing the growth of sailing, particularly by encourag- ing Maltese sailors to participate in offshore racing. "In the early sixties the sadly de- parted great skipper Arthur Po- desta started his racing experience with me in the Royal Malta Yacht Club's several offshore racing pro- grammes. In 1974 when we won the Cruiser Division of the Middle Sea Race on Zizanie, my teenager son John Jr had his first experience of the RMSR" remarked John Ri- pard Sr. Eventually John Ripard Jr togeth- er with Andrew Calascione went on to win the 23rd Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2002 on board Market Wizard. The first time I referred to Chris- tian Ripard in an article was in early 1976 when, then aged 13, together with his father Paul he won the Sportsmanship Crusade sponsored by UNESCO. In the same year Christian placed 7th out of 51 challengers in the 1st World Mirror Dinghy Championship in Holland. Two years later in 1978 he raced his first RMSR, aged 15. How would you describe the evo- lution of the Event and its contri- bution to the involvement of local teenage sailors? "A lot of young Maltese sailors have now done this race with a lot more coming out of the various lo- cal dinghy clubs, soon able to qual- ify. This race is on all their 'bucket lists' as the race is at the pinnacle of the sport both locally and In- ternationally. The race attracts a lot of sailing's top professionals, be it Olympic medallists and World champions including all the best 'one off ' race yachts and series pro- duction boats available anywhere in the world today. This makes the race all the more appealing to the young aspiring sailor who have an opportunity to race against and mix socially with the top names in the sailing world. Many local sail- ors now take part in international events across the globe who prob- ably all started here in Malta with the Rolex Middle Sea Race". Christian Ripard, who has raced 27 RMSR with Four wins (1996-Bigfoot, 2001-Strait Dealer, 2011-Artie , and 2014-Artie), is the helmsman with the highest number of victories followed by the Italian Nello Mazzaferro who skippered Nita IV to three consec- utive wins in 1978, 1979 and 1980. On the two victories on Artie Christian was together with Lee Satariano who sailed his first RMSR in 2004. Lee was one of the many youngsters introduced to the event by Christian. A race with so many stories, of achievements and disappoint- ments too, so many records of participation and of victories. The past 36 editions gave 16 wins to Italy, seven wins to Malta, four wins to the USA, two wins each to France, Germany and to Unit- ed Kingdom and one win each to South Africa, Austria and Greece. At the time of writing there are 117 entrants, including some su- per fast multi hull yachts, and also eight local craft. These are Artie (Lee Satariano-Christian Ripard/ Sebastian Ripard), Elusive (Maya, Aaron, Christoph Podesta), Geisha (David Pizzuto), Otra Vez (Aaron Gatt Floridia), Ton Ton Maltacha- rters (Jonathan Gambin), Unica (Jamie Sammut), XP-Act (Timmy Camilleri), and Xpresso (Sean Borg). Good Luck Boys… and Girls too! The start of the 37th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race is set for Saturday 22nd October from Grand Harbour. A series of starts are scheduled to be held between 11 and 12 noon. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2016 Sport SAILING The Legend Lives On….. Artie, a J122 model, the boat that won the 2011 and 2014 editions of the Rolex Middle Sea Race for Malta and for Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard. (Photo: Rolex/Kurt Arrigo ) The imposing Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy was originated and clay- modeled in 1968 by Chevalier Emvin Cremona (1919-1987), acknowledged as one of the pioneers of modern art in Malta. Once finalised the model was passed for production at the Francis Abela and Sons foundry. (Photo: Rolex/Kurt Arrigo )