Once again, a formidable fleet has formed for the 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race: 93 crews registered in the IRC want to test their mettle in the Mediterranean classic. 70 are also or only registered for the ORC classification. There are also six Class 40 yachts and the Italian Mocra "Picomole". Nine German boats are taking up the challenge, including Stefan Jentzsch's fast Botin 56 "Black Pearl".
Rolex Middle Sea Race starts on 19 October
The Lutra 52 "Aquis Granus IV" from the Akademischer Seglerverein in Aachen, the Swan 441 "Best Buddies" with the crew of Kay-Johannes Wrede and Oomke Möller, Stefan Hümmeke's Pogo 36 "Infinity" will also be on the course, Carl-Peter Forster's TP52 "Red Bandit", Wolf Scheder-Bieschin's Judel/Vrolijk 43 "Vineta", Walter Watermann's GP 42 "X-Day", Thomas Wenzel's XP-50 "Phoenix" and Jörg Olaf Zieron's Solaris 50 "Snowwhite".
The famous Mediterranean race starts on 19 October at 11 am. The starting line is in the centre of the Grand Harbour. When the fleet leaves Malta, it first heads north to Capo Passero on the east coast of Sicily, then on to the Strait of Messina. The active volcano Etna can often be seen on the port side. The Strait of Messina marks one of the most technically demanding sections of the course, as the crews have to keep an eye on both the current and the wind in order to make good progress here.
After the Strait of Messina, the yachts head north to the second active volcano that lines the varied course: Stromboli. At the small volcanic island of Strombolicchio, the fleet turns westwards to sail along the north coast of Sicily to the Egadi Islands. The crews then head south to the island of Lampedusa, leaving Pantelleria on the port side. On Lampedusa, the course leads in a north-easterly direction to the Comino South Channel (between Comino and Malta) and the final leg to the finish line at the entrance to the harbour of Marsamxett.
"X-Day" wins the Yachting Malta Coastal Race
Before the classic calls, 56 yachts have already taken part in the Yachting Malta Coastal Race, which was also organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club in cooperation with Yachting Malta on 16 October. German crews were also able to shine on the 19 nautical mile course.
While the Maxi 72 "Balthasar", the largest yacht, stormed round the course in just 2 hours, 38 minutes and 8 seconds, the battle for overall victory based on the calculated IRC time was an exciting one. Walter Watermann's "X-Day" with skipper Lars Hückstedt came out on top by just two seconds in a duel with Peter Lezhnin's J/112 "Jedi" from Kazakhstan.
"It was a great race and we are very happy with the result," said Lars Hückstädt. "It took us a lot of effort to get 'X-Day' to Malta. We sailed shorthanded all the way from Marseille to Malta, covering around 600 miles. The Yachting Malta Coastal Race was an ideal preparation for the Rolex Middle Sea Race with lots of manoeuvres and sail changes. This allowed the crew to really coordinate with each other." The top performance of "X-Day" also secured the crew the class victory in IRC 3.
THE TRAILER! The preview of the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2024:
