Rolex Middle Sea Race: Ran V back to Malta

The expected frontal system arrived around Midnight last night at the northwest corner of the course. Reports of storm force winds and big seas have been received by the Race Committee and 17 yachts had officially retired from the race by 11:00 CET on Wednesday 22 October. The Race Committee has received no reports of any injuries to crew from the fleet.

The yachts still racing cracked sheets last night, hitting the turbo, flying downwind at incredible speeds. It will be a blast on board, surfing down waves with the salt spray hissing at the rail and warm water breaking over the bows and cascading down the deck. This speed comes with a price, if the boat loses control or accelerates into the waves too fast, the loads involved can be too much resulting in damage. The saying; 'To finish first, first you must finish.' will be very much the mantra.

Last night, the 100ft canting keel Maxi, Esimit Europa 2, skippered by Jochen Schumann, was outside record pace for the course but this is the fourth time Esimit Europa 2 has taken Line Honours for the Rolex Middle Sea Race and that has never been achieved before. Royal Malta Yacht Club Commodore, Godwin Zammit, presented Esimit Europa 2 with their fourth line honours flag.“We would have come sooner if we could!” Joked Jochen Schumann, enjoying a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine, at the Royal Malta Yacht Club. “In a special way, light airs racing is also very difficult. The sail we used the most during was the wind seeker and using that to its full potential requires a huge amount of concentration from all of the crew on deck. We needed to keep alert because if we stop, the boats behind can see that on the tracker and can avoid the wind hole we have found ourselves in. Ran made a big gain at Pantelleria, we stopped for a while and they caught us up, that is very difficult to defend against, but in general if we think we are going to park up, we would choose a place where the competition would need to pass close to us, to negate that effect.”

For the boats still racing, it looks like they will have a lot of wind over the next few days, they don't really need my advice. I am sure they are really prepared and so is their equipment they are all good sailors but the race could be quite tough for them.”

Niklas Zennstrom's Maxi 72, Ran V, finished the Rolex Middle Sea Race about 3 hours after Esimit Europa 2 to set the 'bar to beat' for the yachts still racing. Royal Malta Yacht Club vice Commodore, Mark Napier, welcomed Ran V back to Malta.

“All you can do is try to win your class and hope that the weather is in your favour" commented Niklas Zennstrom. "As always, Team Ran prepared the boat and raced to a very high standard, so we can be happy with our performance. I would like to thank the Royal Malta Yacht Club, for organising the race and especially coming out to the boat with cold beer and warm greetings at the end of a long race.”

DAY 5 AM UPDATE 09:00 CET:

92 yachts are still racing in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The expected frontal system arrived around Midnight last night at the northwest corner of the course. Reports of storm force winds and big seas have been received by the Race Committee and 25 yachts had officially retired from the race by 15:00 CET on Wednesday 22 October. The Race Committee has received no reports of any injuries to crew from the fleet.

Officially retired from the Rolex Middle Sea Race:  Amapola, Aurora, Anouska, Azawak, Il Cavaliere, GYR Scarlet Oyster, Alcor V, Intuition Kabestan, Varuna, Walle G, Gordons, Lady Ruth ACR, Il Moro di Venezia XXVII, Unica, El Stan, Durlindana3, Ton Ton Kabestan, Salana, Mascalzone Latino, Magic Dragon, Little Emily, Gaetana, Zenhea Takesha, Manana and  Stormy Weather of Cowes, 

The yachts still racing cracked sheets last night, hitting the turbo, flying downwind at incredible speeds. It will be a blast on board, surfing down waves with the salt spray hissing at the rail and warm water breaking over the bows and cascading down the deck. This speed comes with a price, if the boat loses control or accelerates into the waves too fast, the loads involved can be too much resulting in damage. The saying; 'To finish first, first you must finish.' will be very much the mantra.

The yachts still racing cracked sheets last night, hitting the turbo, flying downwind at incredible speeds. It will be a blast on board, surfing down waves with the salt spray hissing at the rail and warm water breaking over the bows and cascading down the deck. This speed comes with a price, if the boat loses control or accelerates into the waves too fast, the loads involved can be too much resulting in damage. The saying; 'To finish first, first you must finish.' will be very much the mantra.

Six yachts are still racing in IRC 1, with IMA member Marton Jozsa's Hungarian RP60, Wild Joe leading the pack. Heading for Il Camino with 70 miles to go the front runners are not experiencing as much wind as the yachts behind them but Wild Joe is blasting along at close to 20 knots of boat speed. At Lampedusa, Dmitry Samohkhin's Russian Swan 60 Petite Flamme, skippered by Andy Beadsworth, poses the closest challenge to the corrected time set by Ran V. Petite Flamme was at full pace and only 40 minutes behind Ran V's corrected time.