Eight Maltese boats, led by last year’s winner Lee Satariano’s HH42 Artie III, will race in the 61st Yachting Malta – Syracuse Race, which sets sail from Syracuse on Saturday 4th September and finishes at the Royal Malta Yacht Club in Ta’ Xbiex.
Conceived in 1952 by John Illingworth, a famed sailor of the British Navy, the race is one of the oldest in the Mediterranean. Co-hosted by the RMYC and the Lega Navale Italiana (Sezione di Siracusa), it keeps bringing back boats from Italy and Malta year after year. This year the course has been lengthened to 110 nautical miles, with a longer time limit, so that the race counts for ranking points in the Lega Navale Italiana FIV Offshore Trophy.
Joining Artie III are Calypso (RLR Yachting), Comanche Raider III (Ramon Sant Hill), Corona (Sara Baldwin / Luis Azzopardi), Fekruna (Kevin Dingli), Janissah (Mario Debono), Maltese Falcon II (Jonathan Camilleri Bowman) and Ton Ton Laferla (Jonathan Gambin). Malta has produced 21 winners since 1952, with John Ripard the most successful skipper. Italian regulars such as Ottovolante, Hyperion of Turku, Meltem, Mizzica and Malafemmina promise stiff competition.
“We have been working closely with our counterparts at the Lega Navale Italiana in Syracuse to ensure that all the necessary protocols are in place in order to welcome a sizeable fleet to Malta,” said RMYC Commodore David Cremona. Yachting Malta, which has sponsored the race since 2019, will host the prize-giving at the RMYC on Sunday 5th September.
