Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/891637
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 25 OCTOBER 2017 Sport 20 SPORTTODAY SAILING - ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE Tough but exhilarating ride AFTER four days of racing in the Rolex Middle Sea Race, 7 yachts have com- pleted the race, 47 are still racing, and 50 yachts have now officially retired. The brutal conditions in the latter part of the race have somewhat abated, and the stories from the crew arriving at the Royal Malta Yacht Club paint a picture of a tough but exhilarat- ing ride from Favignana to the finish. "The crew are pretty beaten up, there are a few guys limping around. For ten hours it was like being in the Southern Ocean," commented Stu Wilson, boat captain of the line honours winner, Rambler 88. "That was a gnarly race. We saw 30 knots of wind and more at times, but the short wave pattern, which is typi- cal of the Mistral, was the real reason," commented Leopard's navigator, Hugh Agnew. While the prize for first to finish was decided yesterday, the title of overall winner remains open. In a race of this size and complexity, crews think first of winning their class and then hoping the weather gods will align in their fa- vour to outdo the rest of the f leet. In IRC Class 1, made up of the fast- est and highest rated boats, all yachts are now accounted for and, provision- ally at least, Quentin Stewart's British Infiniti 46 Maverick looks to have re- tained the title won in last year's race. Maximilian Klink's German Botin 65 Caro lies in second, and George Da- vid's American Maxi Rambler 88 is third. Quentin Stewart, owner of Maverick, was delighted with the performance of both boat and crew: "This is a beauti- ful race. It gives you something of eve- rything. It was light and tricky up the east coast of Sicily and around Strom- boli. Then it was wet and wild the whole way home. It was vicious around Lampedusa, with 40 – 45 knots. We blew up an A3 which is impressive giv- en it was built to live with those condi- tions. I can't say enough about the boat and crew. We measure up against big- ger boats and this is a big achievement for us." Two yachts in IRC Two have com- pleted the challenging race. Franco Niggeler's Cookson 50 Kuka 3 was the first to finish, but after time correc- tion Eric de Turckheim's Nivelt Mura- tet 54 Teasing Machine competing in her debut race leads the class and, sig- nificantly, the overall standings. The all-Kiwi team racing Anthony Leigh's Elliott 35 Crusader was expected to reach Malta yesterday and, in doing, so it will be the smallest yacht to have completed the race so far - an extraor- dinary achievement. In IRC Three, currently, only one boat has made it past Favignana on the north-west corner of Sicily: Dominque Tian's Ker 46 Tonnerre de Glen. The tenacious French crew was on its way to the Comino Channel and was arriv- ing back at the Royal Malta Yacht Club later yesterday. In contrast, some eight boats in IRC Four have already rounded Pantelle- ria, including the current class lead- er, James Blakemore's South African Swan 53 Music. Also in this division, two boats are vying to become the first Maltese to cross the finish line. Josef Schultheis & Timmy Camilleri's Xp-44 Xp-ACT was less than three hours ahead of First 45 Elusive, sailed by the Podesta family. Three boats in IRC Five have rounded Pantelleria, including the current class leader, Jo- seph Mele's American Swan 44 Triple Lindy. Nicolás Ibañez Scott's Chilean J/122 Anita is second and within sight of Triple Lindy. Alexandr Musikhin's Russian Salona 41 Kasatka is third. In IRC Six, reserved for the least power- ful boats in the f leet, five boats have passed Pantelleria and are en route to Lampedusa, Igor Rytov's Russian JPK 1080 Bogatyr continues to lead the class both on the water and after time correction. Piercarlo Antonelli's Ital- ian Sun Fast 3600 Bora Fast is second and Thomas Kneen's British JPK 1080 Sunrise is third. Just one Double Handed team is still racing and fighting to become the only short-handed team to complete the course. Dmitry Kondratyev & Alex- ander Grudnin's Russian J/122 Stellar Racing Team is some 220 miles from the finish. Pascal Oddo's Leopard 3 Franco Niggeler's Cookson 50 Kuka 3 Quentin Stewart's Infinity 46 Maverick PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROLEX/KURT ARRIGO