Act 1 of the Sport Boats Racing programme for 2019 kicked off from the Royal Malta Yacht Club last weekend with a series of four races spread over Saturday and Sunday.
Drastic changes in weather conditions, over the weekend, resulted in three races taking place on Saturday and just one race on Sunday.
Four SB20s and a J70 took part in the four race programme, which saw team Orange Marine, skippered by John Horn emerge the overall winner, with three wins. Next in line were Andrew Mifsud and the crew on Triple Action and in third place was Robert Ciantar’s Seriously Bonkers.
Saturday’s conditions saw the fleet having to contend with a Gregale and gusts of wind, reaching up to well in excess of 20 knots. A windward, leeward mark course was laid out by Race Officer Luca Lacitignola in Marsamxett Harbour to ensure the safety of the boats which are between 20 and 30 feet and weigh less than two tons. These conditions only enabled the fleet to compete in three races on Saturday. Saturday’s racing was dominated by John Horn’s Orange Marine team who won all three races. Behind him was Triple Action.
Sunday was a completely different affair with winds barely reaching four to seven knots before it totally died out. This resulted in only one race taking place and which saw only Seriously Bonkers finish and take the win for the day.
The next race, Act 2, will take place on the weekend of the 23rd March. For more information visit www.rmyc.org and the Royal Malta Yacht Club and Sport Boat Class (Malta) pages on Facebook.
Results
1st Place – Orange Marine (Guillaume Poirier, Richard Draper, Charles Cronin and John Horn)
2nd Place – Triple Action (Andrew Mifsud, Pierre Mifsud, Maurizio Jacono, Mark Camilleri)
3rd Place – Seriously Bonkers (Robert & Marcus Ciantar, Duncan Camilleri, Catherine Halpin)
Photos Courtesy – Alex Densiuc
