Rolex Middle Sea Race 2026: Fleet Building Fast
Just as the northern hemisphere begins to think of shorter days and the need for warmer clothes, the offshore racing community looks to grab one more chance to indulge their passion for testing skill, resilience and determination on the water over two or more days. Starting from Grand Harbour, annually in October, the 606 nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race has delivered on this restless desire every year it has run since 1968. With the 47th edition scheduled to start on Saturday, 17 October, and entries due to close on Friday, 18 September (late entries will be accepted until 25 September at organizer’s discretion), the entry list has expanded tremendously in the space of a few days and is on course to match the heights of recent years.
This year’s race will mark the 30th anniversary of the rebirth of Rolex Middle Sea Race following a 13 year hiatus after the 1983 running. Some 21 yachts took part in the 1996 ‘phoenix’ event, representing Italy, Malta, Austria and Argentina. The decision to relaunch has paid off many times over in the past three decades, with the race regularly attracting upwards of 100 entries and from all around the world. The current entry list features crews from over 20 nations and territories, stretching from Canada, the United States and Uruguay in the west to Türkiye in the east, Finland in the north and much of western Europe in between.
There are any number of stories within the fleet. This is just a sample to whet the appetite.
Owned and skippered by Michael Cullen from Canada, Sassafras is a Swan 47 built in 1977. According to her owner: “She's a big old beautiful boat, named after the essential ingredient in root beer. We are determined to race her across the globe, fulfilling a bucket list of races. So far, Sassafras has competed in the Newport to Bermuda, Marblehead to Halifax and the RORC Caribbean 600. After the Rolex Middle Sea Race, she will move to the United Kingdom for next year's Rolex Fastnet Race. The Rolex Sydney Hobart and the Aegean 600 will hopefully complete the list.”
Race historians will recall that Lazy Duck, also a Swan 47 from the drawing board of Sparkman & Stephens, took part in the 1996 race. A nice piece of symmetry that demonstrates the timelessness and the durability of the design. The participation of the Wallyrocket 71 Django 7X from Italy and entered by Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, brings more historical coincidence, with Guillermo Parada competing 30 years after making his debut at the race as a helmsman and tactician on the then line honours winner Alexia.
“I’m particularly happy to be racing in the Rolex Middle Sea Race again,” said Parada. “This year I’ll be back aboard Django 7X, together with my friend Vasco Vascotto and some of the other guys with whom I have shared so many sailing campaigns over the years.”
The team comes into the 2026 race on the back of an impressive performance at last year’s. With Django Deer, a Botin 52, Stronati and his crew finished just five minutes behind overall winner Balthasar, on corrected time. With Django 7X and Balthasar similar lengths and similar IRC TCCs, this pair looks to be one of many enthralling head-to-heads with the fleet.
Arkas Sailing Team from Türkiye have participated in the Rolex Middle Sea Race on four occasions. “In our first participation back in 2015, with the Kerr 40 Arkas Flying Box, we finished first in IRC 3 and tenth overall,” explains Metin Serifhan. “Then, in 2023, we raced a MAT1220 in IRC 4, before transitioning to our current boat, Arkas Blue Moon, a TP52, in 2024 and 2025. We are getting more familiar with this boat each passing year. What we love most about the Rolex Middle Sea Race are the range of weather conditions, the challenge of the course, and the incredible scenery especially the active volcanoes.”
Since moving to the TP52, the Turkish team led by Bernard Arkas, has posted some impressive results, including winning both the 2026 Giraglia Offshore Race and Palermo-Monte Carlo. According to Serifhan, “Bernard founded the team in 2014 with the vision of having an all-Turkish crew and ensuring the team's continuity by integrating young sailors trained in local sailing clubs.” The result of this initiative has been successful, with the team regularly bringing in new talent and participating in European racing scene with crews that mix experience and age.
Newcomer Babiana is a 27m Oyster 885GT, a yacht conceived around a fairly simple idea: take everything that makes an Oyster a serious blue water cruiser, and add more pace. According to owner Anthony Ward and skipper Edward Lowes: “Babiana is an ocean-going yacht designed to cover serious miles offshore in comfort, while being lighter, and more performance-focused. Her carbon rig and race-oriented deck hardware were all developed with the same aim.”
Babiana has put the cruising part to the test, completing the 2024–25 Oyster World Rally, circumnavigating the globe in 16 months. The Rolex Middle Sea Race will be her first offshore: “After winning all five races in Class 1 at the 2025 Oyster Palma Regatta, this feels like a pretty good way to find out what the 885GT concept can really do when there are a few more miles between the start and finish line.”
Once a yacht competes at the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Royal Malta Yacht Club is famous for becoming a lifelong friend of the owner and crew. Every reappearance is celebrated and certainly not taken for granted. Swiss sailor Franco Niggeler and the Kuka team will be one group of returning heroes. Finishing third overall and third in IRC 2 in 2024 in the Cookson 50, Kuka 3, Niggeler took a break last year. This year, Niggeler is unleashing his Mark Mills designed MAT 1220 Kuka 4. New for the 2026 season the team competed at the 2026 Sardinia Cup prior to racing in the Giraglia where it finished ninth overall. The Kuka team is a partnership built on deep trust, shared experience and a lasting enthusiasm for high performance sailing. Niggeler loves endurance style of racing, and this boat is perfectly suited to it being focused on offshore. Ahead of the Giraglia the crew described the MAT 1220 “as a very modern, high performance design. It is wide aft, planes easily, is fast downwind and is a real blast to sail. To get the performance out of it, you have to sail it a bit like a dinghy and really stay on your game.”
Elsewhere, Saverio Sabbioni’s Vola Viola is a Grand Soleil 40, designed by Massimo Paperini and built in 2003. A true cruiser-racer, she has been owned and raced by Sabbioni since 2010. Vola Viola has already competed twice in the Rolex Middle Sea Race and returns in 2026 for a new challenge, this time racing double-handed. Based in Rimini, Italy, she has been carefully maintained and continuously upgraded for offshore sailing and racing.
Within the Maltese fleet, Jonathan Gambin has been a stalwart taking part in every edition since 2008 as skipper/owner of the Dufour 44 Ton Ton Laferla. All being well, 2026 will be his 19th lap around the course. “By now taking part in the Rolex Middle Sea Race has become almost automatic,” explains Gambin. “Unless there is a good reason why I cannot, I expect to be on the start line. After so many editions it has become part of my year, although I certainly never take the race itself for granted and having a sponsor who stands behind you year after year is something we genuinely appreciate.”
Gambin enjoys the preparation for the race, even if there is a lot of work involved in getting the boat and crew ready. For him, it is very much part of the whole experience. Being properly prepped is key to completing to race, which is always the main goal. “The first accomplishment is getting the boat and everyone on board safely around the course,” he continues. “After that, naturally we want the best result possible. Winning our class last year was fantastic, but in the Rolex Middle Sea Race you can prepare well, sail well and make good decisions, but the weather — and a little luck — will still have the final say.”
Completing the course is mainly a mixture of relief and satisfaction. “For several days there is always something to think or worry about,” says Gambin. “So, crossing the line is a great feeling. Then you forget the uncomfortable bits surprisingly quickly and start thinking about doing it again. I suppose that explains number 19!”
The 47th Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 17 October 2026.
The fleet typically ranges from approximately 9 metres (30 feet) to over 30 metres (100 feet), and includes both monohulls racing under IRC and ORC, as well as Multihulls competing under MOCRA. Open classes, such as Class40s, are encouraged reflecting the race’s broad appeal across the international offshore racing community. The Rolex Middle Sea Race forms part of the RORC Season’s Points Championship, the International Maxi Association (IMA) Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Championship and the Class40 Mediterranean Trophy 2026.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race offers a rich calendar of events for all participants. In 2026, the Cannes Malta Yacht Race will get proceedings underway on Monday 5 October, followed by the Yachting Malta Coastal Race on 14 October — both ideal warm-ups for the main event. The legendary crew party on 15 October, free to all participants, promises the convivial spirit that has made the race’s social programme as celebrated as the racing itself. The final prizegiving will take place in the historic Sacra Infermeria on 24 October, a fitting and spectacular close in one of the world’s great maritime locations that links the past to the present.
