Following the announcement yesterday of the overall winner of the 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race, attention has turned to the remaining boats at sea, class winners and other podium places. Since Wednesday afternoon, a further 26 boats have finished, leaving 36 still racing.
Class winners are known across IRC 1 to 4. Boats are home in IRC 5, including the first double-hander and, significantly for the local sailing community, the first Maltese boats have crossed the finish.
Provisional class winners under IRC time correction are as follows: IRC 1 Balthasar, IRC 2 Red Bandit, IRC 3 Long Courrier and IRC 4 Elusive 2. In IRC 5, Calypso, the smallest boat in the fleet, was the second boat in class to cross the line this morning and is the leader in the clubhouse by nearly five hours from the Swan 53 Bedouin, which completed the course half an hour earlier. It seems unlikely anyone still racing will better the time posted.
In IRC 6, the first boat on the water, Zephyr, is two thirds of the way between Lampedusa and the Maltese archipelago. With 40nm left to run, the British entry is expected in early on Friday morning. Marina 21, first of the double handers, finished at 16:01 CEST this afternoon with the next boat in class, Lazy Duck, some 65nm behind.
Artie III claimed the honour of being first Maltese finishing just after midnight. Elusive 2 bettered Calypso’s corrected time by 45 seconds, putting her in pole position for the local win under IRC.
The battle for IRC 3 appeared on the shore to be effectively over after the first night. Long Courrier took the lead on the water on the leg to Messina, and as the lowest rated boat in class after the retirement of Galbula 10, never looked threatened. It was, though, a real fight with several stings in the tail.
“The weather was incredible, three hours after the start we had a storm that I have never seen the like of before with more than 50 knots of wind arriving in seconds,” said Géry Trentesaux. “We were downwind with the big spinnaker up and surfing. Then the storm came, and we were knocked flat for ten minutes. We were happy we did not break the boat and to start again.”
“This was a very complex race, and the weather forecast was not the reality,” explained Alexis Loison, Long Courrier’s navigator “We are always trying to find the best way, and not to take too many risks. The default was always to take the shortest course and to push hard at 100% of our polars and target speed. Also, we watch the boats around us.”
Trentesaux picks up the story again. “We had good conditions, and sailed well through Messina,” he said. “We were leading, but we lost 40 minutes repairing our broken mainsail and jib. North of Sicily, we had no wind for nearly 24 hours, but as we were the lowest rated boat in our class, it did not affect us.
” Long Courrier’s closest competitors on the water and on time correction for much of the race were variously: X-Day, Sagola Sportivento, Artie III, Afazik Impulse and BeWild. Although the elastic expanded and contracted in the first half of the race, by the finish the corrected time gap was 11 hours 31 minutes over BeWild.
In a race like this, a sound team dynamic is essential. The effects of stress and tiredness are cumulative. The crew that sticks together can push through the lowest of moments. “The Courrier crew has sailed together for a long time,” explained Trentesaux. “We have some new members, but we began this dream 25 years ago and have a very good crew.”
Loison also emphasised the closeness: “This team are good friends with a tremendous spirit. We all know what role we have to play. This keeps things very simple and easy on board.”
Long Courrier may have made the race look easy. However, it was anything but, as Aaron Gatt Floridia, the Maltese skipper of the ICE 52 Otra Vez, confirmed. “This was my tenth Rolex Middle Sea Race,” said Gatt Floridia. “It was a very tough class this year. All the boats were very well prepared and well sailed. Racing was tight and it was hard to get away from the fleet.”
The first Maltese boat to finish was Artie III. Maltese skipper, two-time winner Lee Satariano agreed with Gatt Floridia. “The Rolex Middle Sea Race attracts top international sailors,” said Satariano. “The level of sailors and quality of boats increases all the time. The most important goal this year was to finish the race, especially after the damage suffered in big squall.”
Many of the most important decisions in a 600-mile are made long before. For Satariano it was possibly the enlistment of Christian Ripard over twenty years ago. Ripard was on his 34th race this year, one shy of the record set by the late Arthur Podesta.
With such extensive experience he must have seen it all. Not a bit. “Every race has been different,” advised Ripard, who was shocked by the violence on the first afternoon. “I have never experienced such a squall in all my life,” he remarked. “It happened in a split second, and the boat broached so quickly. It was the worst moment of the race, especially as the mast was in the water.”
Racing in IRC 4, the Podesta family’s relationship with the race is hard to encapsulate. Arthur, father to Aaron, Christoph and Maya the co-skippers of Elusive 2, raced in every edition from 1968 until his untimely passing in 2015. He introduced his children to the race, and they have acquired his passion. “This is very special to us, we have to do it,” said Maya.
“We always aim to top our class and then hope for a good result in the grand scheme of things. Overall, our strategy is to always push the boat over 100%. It is always a boost to see that you are in the same water as faster boats, and that motivates us to push even more.”
Maya’s partner David Anastasi is another core member. The pair had their second child just weeks before the start. “It was always going to be hard decision to race this year,” said Maya. “It was a harder decision to stay at home. An inner-conflict of ‘I need to do the race’. I have to thank my mother (Kristine). Without her we could not have raced this year – she is super mum!”
Aaron emphasised the team dynamic. “Mentally, this was a very challenging race. The boat performed really well, and we are very proud of the team that came together and focused,” he explained, before referencing the special family bond. “Sailing with my brother and sister, there is a natural connectivity, and I just love spending five days together, doing what we love every race.”
