Rolex Middle Sea Race, splinter groups

Classic contests have spread throughout the fleet on the third day of the 2024 Rolex Middle Sea Race. While the violence of the first night must feel like a different race as crews negotiate the miserly vagaries of prevailing winds, intra-class battles are developing their own ferocity. At the front, the pair of 100 foot heavyweight contenders for line honours appear finally to have the two cruiserweight rivals on the ropes. With 200 nautical miles left in the slugfest, and the lethargic southeasterly only due to improve after dark, there may still be a twist in the tale of this fight. Among the smaller yachts, overall fleet supremacy under IRC time correction still beckons with the race so far favouring tactical acumen rather than any particular size segment.

Light winds dominated yesterday and overnight. And even at 16:00 CEST today, only those yachts still to round Stromboli are in any sort of breeze. The leaders, meanwhile, have Pantelleria firmly in the cross hairs after passing Favignana at the northwest corner of the race course this morning. Huang-Seng Lee’s Scallywag 100 from Hong Kong led at the westernmost transit, passing through at 07:50 CEST, with Black Jack only 15 minutes behind. Bryon Ehrhart’s 88ft US entry Lucky went through 90 minutes later, just ahead of the Maxi72 Balthasar. Since then, progress has continued to be made, with Black Jack and Scallywag at last able to impress the advantages of greater waterline length and sail power on the smaller pretenders and open an 11nm lead.

It has been worse behind. There may be wind at the Aeolian Islands, which stretch out 45nm west from Stromboli, but it goes no further than Alicudi, the most westerly. This situation is not predicted to change before the early hours of Tuesday morning and, even then, only a little and inconsistently. To the south of Sicily some big wind is coming from the south east, reaching Malta at midnight tonight and then dominating the southern and western course area for the next 24 hours or so.

In IRC2, Stefan Jentzsch and Black Pearl must wonder if they have offended Poseidon. Yesterday afternoon the well-drilled crew, with last year’s winning navigator Marc Lagesse in the roster, pieced together the puzzle after Stromboli to almost make contact with Balthasar, and in the process put 15 miles or so on Red Bandit, Spirit of Lorina, Kuka 3 and Teasing Machine, with whom the Botin 56 had been trading theoretical podium places since the start. Around 9 p.m., just as the unthinkable seemed possible, the German yacht came to a standstill, the big four took off and the pursuing pack caught up. Time to start again. At 16:00, Black Pearl is just west of Trapani, northwest Sicily, with Carl-Peter Forster’s TP52 Red Bandit tight on her tail. Eric de Turckheim’s 54ft Teasing Machine and Jean Pierre Barjon’s Botin 65 Spirt of Lorina have headed closer in towards the Sicilian port town, possibly in the hope that land drainage will carry them around Levanzo and Favignana, and set them going south. The remainder of the class stretches back to the island of Ustica, with the tiny Elliott 35 Palby Marine and the contrastingly resplendent Nacira 69, 12, bringing up the rear.

Arto Linnervuo, owner of the Finnish Infiniti 52 Tulikettu Redkik Racing equipped with DSS foils and racing in IRC 2, called in 40 miles from Favignana. “Everything OK with the crew, boat and equipment,” advised Linnervuo. “We had a solid start of the race, foiling for many hours. When the thunderstorm hit, we sailed in safety mode, but still damaged two stanchions on which we have made some running repairs. Last night went quite well, we managed to stay in the breeze putting in a lot of gybes. Today, we have been fighting with the wind and we parked up for much of the morning in a big wind hole. We have just recently found some new westerlies and are moving again. It is exciting race, and we are enjoying every minute despite the separation gained by the boats sailing ahead of us. We hope to get back on the foil after Favignana and get reaching, that is the sweet spot for our boat, and we hope to gain some positions back.”

The most impressive performance so far is that of Calypso in IRC 5. Not only is the Seb Ripard and Dan Calascione skippered Farr 30 some 85nm ahead of her classmates (just reaching Stromboli), but the Maltese pocket rocket is midway between Alicudi and Ustica, abreast of the leaders in IRC 4, Elusive 2 and Yagiza, and about to make inroads into the IRC 3 backmarkers, Renzo Grotessi’s BeWild, Aaron Gatt Floridia’s Otra Vez and Alex Laing’s Goose. It has been an extraordinary piece of sailing, alarmingly reminiscent of last year’s near perfect execution by the equally minnow-like Red Ruby. The key moment in the tale came yesterday at Messina. The Swan 53 Bedouin led IRC3 into the 20nm strait at about 19:00 on Sunday evening, just ahead of Calypso. Threading their way north, the pair were broadly in lockstep until Villa San Giovanni on the mainland shore. As they crossed to the northern shore, just before the exit, Calypso seems to have struck favourable wind and/or current; the Maltese crew making their break for freedom at 23:30. The Bedouin crew, meanwhile, were stuck fast only escaping at 04:30, with the rest of the class bunched behind. Calypso took full advantage, rounding Stromboli at 6.00 a.m. and pressing on to the west in what wind was available. As we go to press, the Guglielmo Giordano & Linda Goddard skippered Australian entry Bedouin is just about to round Stromboli. With more than half the race to go, it is by no means over given the instability in the wind.

Yesterday afternoon, the First 45 Elusive 2 co-owned by Aaron, Christoph and Maya Podesta seemed to have achieved a similar split from her nearest pursuers. The Maltese yacht entered the Strait with a 15nm lead over the larger British entry, Yagiza, and wiggled clear of the narrow channel some six hours clear. By Stromboli that lead on the water had shrunk to just under three hours. Yagiza, a First 53, under the leadership of Nikki Henderson, had put in a proverbial shift on the 35nm leg to bite a great chunk out of Elusive’s lead and build a gap to those behind. Focus had been nearly four hours behind at the Messina transit. At Stromboli, Benoit Tuduri’s S-40 was 11 hours in arrears. Yagiza took a more northerly routing after the volcanic turning point than Elusive, and the decision seems to have paid off. The two are currently abreast of Palermo, with Yagiza 15nm to the north of lower-rated Elusive. Another contest worth following.

Like many others Long Courrier, Géry Trentesaux’s Sydney 43 in IRC 3, has encountered a difficult day. Still appearing to lead class on time correction, the French crew has spent the day watching the rest of their group catch up. Stationary north of Palermo, it is a tense moment as everyone waits for the wind. Trentesaux found time to call in. “All is good on board, but we have no wind at the moment and the boats behind are coming with the wind,” he reported. “This can happen in racing. During the storm on the first day, we had damage to the mainsail. We repaired that in calm weather after Messina and it took us 20 minutes. We were 12 miles ahead of Yves Grosjean and Afazik Impulse, but they have come back with the wind. We know there will be a new wind at Favignana, so we will see if we can get ahead again when we arrive there. Everything is under control; the boat is very good upwind, and we look forward to more wind to come.”

After a long and tiring 56 hours or so, the back markers in the fleet are through the Messina Strait. Germaine Williams and Escapado are last on the water, with Enrico Calvi’s Duffy and Stefan Hümmeke’s Infinity just ahead. Daniel Ziehmayer, co-skipper the Dufour 46 Almar, an all-Austrian crew on their first Rolex Middle Sea Race, reported from among the stragglers. “We had some sail damage in the rough weather and now that we have very little wind, we are repairing the gennaker which was damaged,” explained Ziehmayer. “Right now, we would like to have more wind but in general we are feeling fine, and we are motivated to continue and to finish in time for the prize giving. We are through Messina, but we cannot see Stromboli yet because it is raining. We will be very happy when we can finally see the volcano.”

32 yachts have retired, with all crew safe, leaving 80 still racing, including the lone multihull, Aldo Fumagalli’s Picomole.

Class Action @ 16:00 CEST, Monday 21 October 2024

IRC 1

It has been a long, slow haul across the top of Sicily to the western turn at Favignana for the largest yachts. Now hunting the breeze on the open sea leg to Pantelleria and Lampedusa, Balthasar continues to lead under time correction, with an 11 hour advantage over Scallywag and Black Jack 100.

IRC 2

Black Pearl’s difficult leg across the top of Sicily has finally come to an end. Still leading on the water, the Botin 56 was first through the Favignana transit line just after 16:00. This is unlikely to be enough to keep the lead on time correction, with Teasing Machine, Red Bandit and Spirit of Lorina hard on her heels. Whether a gap can be opened during the second half of the race remains to be seen.

IRC 3

Long Courrier was first to round Stromboli and initially held onto its lead until midway along the leg to Favignana it hit a wind hole, and the chasers closed up. At the Stromboli transit, Long Courrier held a 2.5 hour advantage over the Italian Farr 45 Sagola Spartivento, skippered by Peppe Fornich, with the GP42 X-Day co-skippered by Walter Watermann & Lars Hückstädt, a further hour behind. As one of the lowest rated entries in IRC 3, the crew of Long Courrier will not be immediately concerned by the change in fortunes.

IRC 4

Elusive 2 continue to dominate, leading by nearly five hours after time correction at Stromboli. In second place, and currently only a handful of miles behind on the water is Yagiza. Yagiza has a much higher IRC rating, but still pose a big threat if Elusive makes an uncharacteristic mistake in the light winds. Papazulu, the Massimo Gabriele Verdi skippered RM 1360 from Italy, held third at Stromboli, some 11 hours behind Yagiza.

IRC 5

Calypso has continued to enjoy impressive velocity, sprinting to a lead of over 70 miles from the rest of the class, and will be threatening pole position on the IRC Overall leaderboard if the form continues. Calypso had carved out a 12 hour lead over Kay-Johannes Wrede and Oomke Möller’s German Swan 441R, Best Buddies. The battle behind is raging for the final podium rank. A posse of boats are rounding Stromboli, with Didier Vernhet’s French Figaro II, Un Palier Deux Toits (IF), currently in third after time correction, 20 minutes behind Best Buddies.

IRC 6

Virtually all of the boats still racing in IRC 6 are in good breeze, seriously close on the water, with the leaders just rounding Stromboli. The view must be as amazing as the competition, with the class ranking as volatile as the volcanic island. Jean Christophe Cascailh's French Sun Fast 3200 Milou has moved up from third to first after IRC time correction but only just. Ranked second in class by just 15 minutes is the oldest boat in the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Australian Auzepy-Brenneur 68 El Oro, skippered by Kent King. The Maltese youth team, led by Claudio Bugeja and racing J/109 JYS Jan, is in third, 30 minutes further back, with their sistership the J/109 Jarhead, another youth team and skippered by Gary Mercieca, in fourth and only 20 minutes in arrears.

Double Handed Class

The leading double-handers are fast approaching Stromboli. At Messina, the Sun Fast 3300 Alquimia skippered by Francesco Cerina and Matteo Uliassi, led the John and Tommy Ripard skippered Swan 47 Lazy Duck by 30 minutes on time correction, with the First 36 Marina 21 from Greece, skippered by Milan Kolacek and Milan Tomek, a further hour behind. Given the relative positions on the water, Lazy Duck may well have squeezed ahead on the IRC ranking once around Stromboli.

Class 40

Mikael Mergui’s Centrakor and Matteo Sericano’s Lucente lead on the water, lying to the north of Palermo. Aurelien Ducroz’s Marvic40 has made up considerable ground across the top of Sicily, and the three could yet converge at Favignana. The slow progress of Marie Goulven’s Espoir and Michael Pühse’s Talanta continues, but the pair have finally reached Stromboli.

Beyond the considerable support and partnership of Rolex, title sponsor since 2002, the RMYC also benefits from the commitment of Yachting Malta, a public private partnership between the Government of Malta and the RMYC, and two other government bodies instrumental in the successful organisation of the 608nm Rolex Middle Sea Race: Transport Malta, responsible for safe operation of Grand Harbour among other aspects of Malta’s transport infrastructure; the Malta Tourism Authority, charged with advancing the Maltese tourism sector and activities that attract visitors to the archipelago; and, Armed Forces of Malta, responsible for defence and safeguarding national interests.

The Royal Malta Yacht Club is intent on enhancing its sustainability efforts, reflecting a real commitment to environmental stewardship. In July 2024, the RMYC launched its Sustainability Compass . This strategic initiative is aimed at guiding the club’s operations and events towards a more sustainable future. It is also designed to influence and inspire sailors to adopt more eco-friendly practices, not only during the Rolex Middle Sea Race, but as the norm in order to protect the marine environment.

The Royal Malta Yacht Club traces its roots back to 1835. It is a volunteer-run club promoting all aspects of sailing from its junior programme to its pinnacle offshore event, the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The club exists to serve the sailing community of Malta and all visiting sailors including those who participate in its most famous race. It has a membership of 700.