Seb Ripard’s J/99 Calypso won the Yachting Malta Coastal Race overall after IRC time correction, leading a Maltese one-two ahead of Jonathan Gambin’s Dufour 44 Ton Ton Laferla. RORC Commodore James Neville’s British HH42 Ino XXX was third.
The traditional curtain-raiser to the Rolex Middle Sea Race was a light-wind affair, a gentle 12-mile race to Comino. Less than a minute separated the top three on corrected time, even though they raced in different IRC classes.
Runners-up in their classes were Francois Bopp’s Swiss Farr 52 Chocolate, the Podesta family’s Maltese First 45 Elusive 2 and Ludovic Gérard’s French JPK 1080 Solenn For Pure Ocean. Third in class were Yves Grosjean’s French Neo 430 Neo Jivaro, Conor Doyle’s Irish Xp50 Freya and Jonathan McKee’s American Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby.
“While we wish all teams the very best for the big race ahead, Yachting Malta and the Malta Sailing Federation are delighted with the results of the Coastal Race. We are proud to see our Maltese sailors doing so well against world class opposition,” said Yachting Malta CEO Michael Mifsud. The 606 nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race starts from Grand Harbour at 11:00 on Saturday 22nd October.
