Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/765642
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2016 Sport SAILING Exhilarating vibe at the Medcomms Round Malta Race 2016 Royal Malta Yacht Club's Calendar comes to a close SEVENTEEN, fully crewed yachts took part in the Royal Malta Yacht Club's final race of the year, an annual appointment that is kept by many returning crews for the Medcomms Round Malta Race. The course chosen was to take the yachts on a southerly route leaving the Munxar Cardinal buoy to starboard then on around Mal- ta via the South Comino channel to finish at Marsamxett. Yachts started in two groups into a mod- erate East South Easterly breeze with grey clouds looming. Four yachts started at 08:31 in the cruiser class, with Inspiration getting their timing quite right and being first off the line. How- ever the much larger, and newest addition to the fold, Miame Too soon overtook to windward and led the fleet out to the first mark. The twelve IRC Class 1 & 2 yachts started about nine minutes later with a couple of very close calls while tacking out of Marsamxett. The fleet soon spread out and by Munxar it was Xpedite, Elusive II, Unica and Xpresso that dominat- ed the order. The pace was above average with the wind keeping the yachts very much a straight course close to the rhumb line. The first IRC Class 1 yacht to cross the finish line was Xpedite at 13:59 followed by Elusive II at 14:00 with Xpresso close behind at 14:01. Ratings came into play at the eventual order after time cor- rections it was Elusive II to clinch first place, followed by Unica and Xpresso in second and third place respectively with just nine min- utes separating the first and third. The first IRC Class 2 yacht over the line was Seawolf of South- ampton at 14:43 followed by Puddleduck at 14:50. Sailaway crossed at 15:00. There was no change to this order even after time corrections were calculated. The IRC Class 4 had three boats competing with final placing go- ing to Manana then Inspiration and Janissah. The new Miame Too was in a class of its own in the RMYC Cruiser. "The Medcomms Round Malta Race closes off a hectic racing calendar and we are pleased to see that racers had a great time on the water – we take this op- portunity to thank Medcomms for their ongoing support as well as the volunteers who assisted in race management" remarked Godwin Zammit, Commodore, and Royal Malta Yacht Club. "We now look forward to a short break from racing, however we do look forward to the annual Boxing Day Fun Race that will be held in aid of L-Istrina, and hope that as is the norm quite a good amount of our members will turn up on the day to support this charitable cause". The Royal Malta Yacht Club's 2017 Racing Calendar will kick off on the 21st January with the start of the Malta Sailing League. More information can be found on www.rmyc.org. Results IRC Class 1 1st Place – Elusive II (Aaron, Christoph & Maya Podesta) 2nd Place – Unica (Jamie Sammut) 3rd Place – Xpresso (Sean Borg) IRC Class 2 1st Place - Seawolf (David Latham) 2nd Place – Puddleduck (Chris Selvagi) 3rd Place – Sailaway (Ray Schem- bri) IRC Class 4 1st Place – Manana (Peter Ellul Vincenti) 2nd Place – Inspiration (Godwin Zammit)