Seventy-six Maltese sailors took part in the 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race, and the local fleet had plenty to celebrate. Maltese boats have won the race overall nine times, and the Royal Malta Yacht Club continues to encourage sailors, young and old, to take on the 606 nautical mile course.
Top Maltese boat after IRC time correction was Sebastian Ripard’s J/99 Calypso, sailed double-handed with Sam Pizzuto. They finished fifth overall out of 91 boats in IRC, second in IRC Double-Handed and third in IRC 6. Jamie Sammut’s Solaris 42 Unica was runner-up among the Maltese boats, winning a huge fight for third in IRC 5, while the Podesta family’s First 45 Elusive 2 won IRC 4. Lee Satariano’s HH42 Artie III finished sixth in a high-calibre IRC 3 fleet, with skipper Christian Ripard racing his 33rd Rolex Middle Sea Race.
“We are super happy with our result, especially considering this was the first double-handed race that either myself or Sam did,” said Seb Ripard. “We slipped into a good watch routine and found the right balance between pushing hard and getting enough rest. Finally, very proud to be the top Maltese boat. That’s always a nice achievement when racing on home waters!”
Aaron, Christoph and Maya Podesta continue a family tradition: a Podesta has raced every edition since their late father Arthur first competed in 1968. “We didn’t have navigation instruments for most of the race, so we sailed ‘old school’, feeling the wind,” explained Christoph Podesta. “We still miss our father dearly, but he is with us, especially in the way we sail the boat. He taught us everything.”
It was also a year of firsts. Noel Grech’s First 40.7 Gozo Dream became the first all-Gozitan crew to complete the race, in just under five days. “We have really put sailing in Gozo on the map for generations to come,” said Grech. Horst Huelsey and Jonathan Camilleri Bowman’s J/112 OpenPayd Befree and Simon Xuereb’s Dufour 40 Spirit of the Winds made their debuts, and Stefan Debattista raced for the first time as an owner with the IMX 40 Geisha. The Jarhead Young Sailors Foundation, with crew as young as sixteen, completed the race on the J/109 JYS Jan, skippered by Claudio Bugeja.
The prize-giving takes place on Saturday 28th October at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta.
