Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s Django team has added yet another triumph to its illustrious history by winning the 47th Rolex Middle Sea Race. This was confirmed by the organisers, the Royal Malta Yacht Club, on Monday, when none of the boats still competing in the 606-nautical-mile race had any chance of knocking the Italians off their throne.
Rolex Middle Sea Race: a 606-nautical-mile battle for supremacy around Sicily
The Italian team’s victory came at the end of an intense race around Sicily, which was characterised by a close battle between the Wallyrocket 71 and the Maltese Mills-Maxi 72 “Balthasar”. The defending champions and their crew, led by Louis Balcaen, had won the 46th Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2025, but this time they had to “Django 7x” admit defeat. The two powerhouses sailed within sight of each other for much of this fiercely contested endurance classic.
“Django 7x” crossed the finish line off Malta on Monday at 21:02, after 2 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 19 seconds, with a lead of just 39 minutes’ sailing time over “Balthasar”. This was calculated as 3 days, 20 hours, 7 minutes and 2 seconds. As a result, “Django 7x” maintained a lead of around 1 hour and 20 minutes over “Balthasar” in the IRC handicap classification.
Winning the Rolex Middle Sea Race was incredibly important to Giovanni. It was his main goal for this year, and achieving it is something very special.” Vasco Vascotto
Third place in the overall IRC standings was secured by Frederik Puzin’s French Carkeek FP54, the “Daguet”. The Line Honours winner, “Black Jack 100” came very close to finishing fourth on the IRC podium. According to the calculations, skipper Tristan Le Brun and his crew on the fast Reich/Pugh 30 Custom were just 3 minutes and 26 seconds short of third place.
Compensation for “Red Bandit”, “Varuna VI” out of the Rolex Middle Sea Race
For the two top GER boats, “Varuna VI” and “Red Bandit”, this edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race did not turn out as successfully as hoped. The best German boat in the IRC overall standings was Carl-Peter Forster’s “Red Bandit”, which finished 23rd in the IRC overall standings.
The TP 52 from the Bavarian Yacht Club, along with a total of 36 boats, received a small compensation because the second mark had drifted about for a while before a boat from the race committee was able to hoist the ‘Mike’ flag and mark the mark’s original position. In the IRC class, the “Red Bandits” finished fifth with a time of 3 days, 2 hours, 51 minutes and 36 seconds.
Jens Kellinghusen’s Ker 56 “Varuna VI”, which had got off to a very promising start, was forced to withdraw from the race. Highly optimised and having started the race with a smaller crew (11) and fewer sails, During the opening stages of the long-distance classic race around Sicily, “Varuna VI” was still firmly among the leading boats, and at times even led the overall IRC standings.
A burst forestay cylinder brings the “Varuna VI”’s comeback bid to an abrupt end
Jens Kellinghusen’s team had already suffered their first major setback off Messina. “We’d positioned ourselves a little too close to Stromboli, and they all sailed past us six nautical miles to our right whilst we were stuck there for six hours,” reported Pitman, boat captain and crew boss Tim Daase. After that, however, the “Varuna VI”, racing for the North German Regatta Club, made a strong comeback.
“We managed to overtake ‘Red Bandit’ and other boats again, until the forestay cylinder burst whilst sailing close-hauled, about 30 nautical miles from the finish line,” said Tim Daase. Owner Jens Kellinghusen reacted calmly to the setback, saying: “Things will go better next time.” The knock-out blow shortly before the end of the Rolex Middle Sea Race did nothing to dampen the crew’s motivation. They plan to draw up their plans for the coming year over the next few weeks.
The fact that other teams were not spared from equipment failure is illustrated by the case of the overall winner, “Django 7x”. However, the team had encountered its problems beforehand and was able to resolve them in good time. The offshore mast, which had been specially ordered in New Zealand for the Rolex Middle Sea Race, had been damaged during transport. As a result, the team had to convert and reinforce the inshore mast at very short notice – evidently with great success.
Giovanni Lombardi Stronati: “Vasco is our Maradona”
After the victory, Giovanni Lombardi Stronati said: “The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a legendary regatta, a victory every owner and sailor dreams of. Winning it is an immense source of satisfaction. It was a fantastic and fiercely contested race, featuring an extraordinary duel with the ‘Balthasar’ and some truly challenging conditions, particularly on the final leg back to Malta.”
Stronati went on to say: “All credit goes to the ‘Balthasar’, which has an outstanding offshore crew and had beaten us last year. I’m proud of the people who are part of this team. They are all exceptional professionals. Vasco is our Maradona, whilst I would compare Guille (Ed.: Guillermo Parada) and Michele (Ed.: Michele Ivaldi) to Zidane and Totti. They were all fantastic.”
Bouwe Bekking’s take on the top-of-the-table clash in this edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, in which he and the ‘Balthasar’ crew had to concede defeat this time to the Italian ‘Django 7x’ and its crew:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter