Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/740013
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2016 20 HELD in the presence of par- liamentary secretary for sports Chris Agius, Royal Malta Yacht Club Commodore Godwin Zam- mit introduced the calendar of events for the forthcoming edi- tion of the world famous race, starting and finishing in Malta. Agius welcomed those present and stressed the importance of the Rolex Middle Sea Race which, year on year, attracts some of the world's high profile crews and boats to the island. Agius further reiterated the im- portance yachting is being given by the Government, so much so that the development of a break- water in Marsamxett was recently announced. As a warm-up to the 2016 Rolex Middle Sea Race, racing action in Malta starts today, with the Coastal Race. Whilst the race has no bearing on the result of the 608-mile Rolex Middle Sea Race, (starting Saturday 22nd October). The Coastal Race gives teams the opportunity to put in hours of practice, in a real race scenario, and score some bragging rights over other competitors. "We have 39 yachts compet- ing in the Coastal Race this year, which is the most we have had since we started the idea over 15 years ago," commented Principal Race Officer, Peter Dimech. "We will decide on the course just be- fore we start, the longest course is 37 miles and the shortest 18 miles, our intention is to have a race lasting about four hours, which is enough for the teams to have a good work out. The Coastal Race is designed to get teams ready for the Rolex Middle Sea Race, and our intention is to follow the starting sequence for the big event on Saturday, so that will be good practice for the Race Management Team as well." Yachts from 25 different nations began arriving in Malta last week. 112 yachts are expected, includ- ing eight teams f lying the Maltese f lag. Among the visiting yachts are three of the world's fast- est ocean-going sailing yachts. George David's American Maxi, Rambler; Giovanni Soldini's Ital- ian MOD70 Maserati and Lloyd Thornburg's American MOD70 Phaedo3. "This is the 37th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race and we have seen just about every weather scenario possible," continued Pe- ter Dimech. "Whilst the decision to race is the ultimate responsi- bility of the person in charge of each boat, the Royal Malta Yacht Club take safety very seriously. Every yacht is inspected by the club, to check that each boat has the necessary safety equipment, and spot checks are carried out right up to the race start. Any de- ficiencies are reported to the race committee." The boats and crew Following a uniquely beauti- ful and challenging course, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, is mentioned in the same breath as the top Rolex Fastnet, The Rolex Sydney - Hobart and Newport- Bermuda. It typically attracts a varied f leet of boats and many distinguished sailors many of whom keep returning. It remains on the bucket list of many a sailor. As the start of the 37th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race ap- proaches the f leet that is build- ing up for this annual challenge is looking as impressive as ever. The usual mix of production boats optimised for the race by their Corinthian crews are set to sail alongside top racing boats manned by professionals. Fol- lowing a global rise in interest the presence of high performance multihulls is growing too. Twenty five countries will be represented at the start line on Saturday 22nd October, with neighbouring Italy, as in past years having the greatest pres- ence. Strong growth has been registered by Russia, whilst third placed United Kingdom has seen a slight increase from the previ- ous year. The Rolex Middle Sea Race will be welcoming back Den- mark and Ukraine who have not made an appearance in the last five years whilst Sweden will be returning after an absence of two years. With boats from faraway countries like Australia and the United States also present the f leet has become truly global... Looking through the crew list one can see a number of well- known sailors with an impres- sive CV to their names including Adrian Stead, Vincenzo Onorato, Flavio Favini, Branko Brcin, Ian Moore, Giovanni Soldini, Pierre Casiraghi and Mikey Muller. RORC Racing Manager Nick El- liot will be taking part in his first big offshore race on Gemerves- cence and old faithful Beppe Bisotto is back with Atame for the 11th consecutive year. Local sailors Timmy Camilleri, Aaron, Christoph and Maya Podesta, Lee Satariano and Christian and Se- bastian Ripard will be at the start too while Royal Malta Yacht Club Committee Member Jamie Sam- mut will be taking part this time in the demanding double handed class. Among top monohulls George David's Rambler 88 will be back after having won monohull line honours in 2015. The current course record unbeaten since 2007 was set by George David himself with a previous Rambler. Winner of the 2015 Monohull Line Honours, George David will be returning and prepared to better the course record he still holds. Also returning are Cippa Lippa and Mascalzone Latino are the two Cookson 50 boats who are no strangers to this race, with Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino narrowly missing out to B2 for the coveted IRC win in 2015. A good challenge is also expected from the two TP52s Audax En- ergia and Team Van Uden Per- formance from Spain and the United Kingdom. From the Open 70 class Green Dragon and Turk- ish Airlines Racing Team Black Betty are back have been on the starting line before too. The rest of the monohull f leet includes some competitive boats such as the Xp-44 while the popular and successful J boats are out in full force out to produce some good results. Worthy of mention is Maltese boat Artie, a J122 yacht who brought the Rolex Middle Sea Race trophy home in the 2011 and 2014 editions – definitely a force not to be underestimated Multihulls have showed a marked increase in popularity. Following substantial develop- ment put into producing high level performance and increase in speed, this category has become a highly competitive one. In 2015 the category included Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo 3 which took multihull line honours and Peter Aschenbrenner's MOD 70 Paradox winning on corrected time. This year the race will wel- come four multihulls. MOD70 trimaran Phaedo 3 sailing under the now familiar colours of lime green and chrome will be making a welcome return to the course and hoping to retain their 2015 Multihull Line honours title. The trimaran Maserati Multi70 will make its first appearance in this race. This Maserati is a cut- ting-edge, very high performance trimaran capable of making ex- tremely fast speeds and can rise up off the water on her rudders and foils, significantly reducing her wetted surface area to the ben- efit of performance. The Maserati Multi70 is skippered by Giovanni Soldini who has his sights firmly set on the Rolex Middle Sea Race and RORC Transatlantic Race. A Multi 50s – Ciela Village will be entering the fray for the first time in Malta. Ciela Village's skipper Thierry Bouchard won the Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2008 on Spirit of Ad Hoc a Beneteau 40.7. The R-Six is the fourth multihull to take part and is a 2016 built cruis- ing catamaran. Seven boats will be vying for the Swan Mediterranean Challenge Trophy – T'ala, Montrachet and Lunz Am Meer have all competed in this race various times and will be returning once again. Digi- tal Alpha, skippered by Valentin Zubkov is a Club Swan 42, a fast growing one design racing class. Maltese boats A distinct f leet of local boats will be proudly f lying the Maltese f lag. Seven of the eight boats are returning crews. Lee Satariano's J/122 Artie, overall winners of the 2014 edition, will be returning once again with strong determi- nation. Although in 2015 they sailed well to win their class, light wind conditions prevented them from making a repeat victory. Artie will be joined by another J/122 – Otra Vez skippered by the Gatt Floridia brothers. In 2015 although present for the race, the Gatt Floridias formed part of an American crew on the USA Ker 43 namesake. The Podesta siblings, Aaron, Christoph and Maya will keep the family legacy going with the participation of their Beneteau First 45 Elusive 2 BOV whilst Jamie Sammut will be crewing his Solaris One 42 Unica in the double handed class. Tim- my Camilleri, veteran of many international races will join the XP-Act crew whilst David Pizzu- to's IMX40 Geisha and Jonathan Gambin's Ton Ton Dufour 44P will also make a welcome return. Sean Borg's XP44 Xpresso will be making its debut on this famed course and will be completing the Maltese f leet. Sport SPORTTODAY SAILING 25 nations gather in Malta for the Rolex Middle Sea Race The Rolex Middle Sea Race event programme kicked off with an official press conference at the Royal Malta Yacht Club