Rolex Middle Sea Race - PLAYING DIFFERENT HANDS

What a day - whether one quite like this has been witnessed before in the Rolex Middle Sea Race is a matter for the archivists. Starting with the resolution of the titanic struggle for Line Honours, it is ending with a series of war stories from the course ranging from alarming encounters with shipping, to an even more alarming encounter with a ferocious squall that has seen a number of yachts pull out with various, but serious, rig, mast and sail problems.

Let's begin with the positive. Andy Soriano's 68-foot Alegre (GBR) cruised over the line at 0720 this morning to secure the prize for being first home. The Royal Malta Yacht Club greeted the arrival with its ritual cacophony of hooters, clapping and cries of congratulation. Every yacht from however far a field is welcomed home as if a long lost family member, and those that have been engaged in fascinating struggle that has kept the yacht terrace buzzing receive the feeling tenfold. Even Rosebud/Team DYT (USA), which crossed the line third almost eight-hours later was the recipient of rapturous, if sympathetic applause.

Roger Sturgeon's crew lost out in the contest to break the tape on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning when they became trapped in a windless hole just off the bay of Castellammare. Jim Swartz's STP65 Moneypenny (USA) was further offshore and according to Francesco de Angelis, one of the all-star afterguard, this was a part deliberate, part accidental ploy after the turn at Stromboli , “the first time we went north was planned, the second was when we encountered a couple of unexpected holes. We worked well through this period because we kept pressure all the way up to Trapani, while most of the other boats inside lost it. It was one of those situations when we felt you could not play in the middle.” The middle is where Rosebud/Team DYT had placed herself.

Malcolm Park, project manager for Rosebud/Team DYT described what happened from their perspective at the critical moment, “Moneypenny sailed her own race at the top of Sicily, and got some magical puffs. We tried to grab a hold of the last of westerly; Alegre looked to be doing the same, but going further inshore looking for the last of the tidal drainage, which they got. What happened to us was extremely frustrating. We were close enough to see the crew on Moneypenny as they went by us.”

All sport involves an element risk-taking in the decision making process. Making tactical calls in offshore yacht racing requires tremendous nerve. Get it wrong and you are down the drain. Get it right and the roses come into bloom. Bearing in mind the wind does not always do what is forecast, calculating and minimizing risk is not straightforward. De Angelis thought Alegre took the biggest gamble in the game of leaderboard poker by heading inshore at Castellammare.

Andy Soriano described what led to the decision, “from Stromboli all the way to Trapani was very difficult. It was a matter of holding our nerve and holding to the plan. We did not hold to plan coming up to the Strait and it cost us. We got into a duel with Moneypenny and let Rosebud get by on the outside, which is where we wanted to be because it made sense in the conditions. Will (Best, the Navigator) and I talked about it after Stromboli and agreed that this time we would stick with our plan of coming into the north coast of Sicily.”

Best takes up the description of what happened, “we were about to head offshore at Stromboli, but then decided to head straight for the land that night. We were able to look at some weather observations and knew they were showing a bit of breeze off the land at night. We got really lucky with a nice light breeze, while everyone offshore probably just wallowed around.” West pointed to another secret weapon, “the other thing that helped was the current that kept us moving throughout. It meant we had no reason to gybe offshore since it was taking us to where we wanted to be. We managed to sneak around the headland at Capo San Vito and just kept on going.” Best was on his first Rolex Middle Sea Race and was clearly delighted to have won Line Honours, and modestly put it down to some lucky breaks. De Angelis was more sanguine, “they hit the band of land-breeze a couple of minutes before us and that was the race, right there.”

When Moneypenny and Alegre converged, Soriano's boat had the edge by 2-300 metres and was to windward, effectively holding all the cards. The race was by no means over with 250 nm left to go and plenty of decisions still to be made. Whilst the winds were 12-15 knots, the seas were typical for the region. Short, sharp and steep. “We had a day and a half of some pretty hard slogging, not into that much wind but into uncomfortable seas. Depending which part of the boat you are on it can be a bucking bronco,” explains Soriano, who was understandably thrilled to be heading home with Alegre's maiden offshore Line Honours and a Rolex Chronometer. “We're thrilled, absolutely thrilled. It's a culmination of a lot of hard work, including a few people who aren't with us who contributed greatly to the team effort. It's a tribute to my son, who put the crew together. It is a cohesive group of both amateur and professional sailors. Beating some of the top sailors in the world is a credit to the boys who just kept fighting - even if they were playing cards some of the time,” commented Soriano, who added with a laugh, “I guess it's hard to read a book with the sails flapping and seventeen other guys looking over your shoulder.”

So what about the rest of the day. Well, where to start. Most of the fleet started last night spread between Favignana and Pantelleria, having waited all day for the breeze filling in from the south to reach them. Some, like Georges Bonello DuPuis on Escape (MLT) were resigned to another night sat bobbing; others, like Ivan Mellia and Windriven (MLT) were just entering the winds and were enjoying heading south at a steady rate even if it was on the wind.

Just after the frontrunners had tied up at Grand Harbour Marina and were sinking a well-earned beer, the news from the racecourse started to take a turn for the worse. The rotten hands dealt to the fleet north of Sicily, when they had no wind, were being dealt again. This time, though, the jokers in the pack included the sea state and a sudden, exceptionally violent, squall as a front generated by a tight low over Sardina passed over Pantelleria at lunchtime.

First boat on the radio to Race HQ was the short-handed Oxygene (ITA), whose crew could not start her engine to charge her batteries and consequently was sailing without instruments to Pantelleria to assess their options. At 0900 it was the turn of Sciara (ITA), reporting her retirement due a broken mast. Skipper, Filippo Lancellotti, explained that “we were about one mile past Pantelleria, having a great race with Vikesha, when the mast snapped high up. It was not too much wind, maybe 22 knots, but the sea was very harsh and we were pounding hard. It's a shame to retire, but everyone is OK and we'll be back.” Lancellotti passed on his thanks to the crew of Vikesha (MLT), skippered by Timmy Camilleri, which stood by whilst the crew of Sciara got things under control.

Four hours later and the weather forecasts were predicting a fierce ball of wind in excess of forty knots due to pass through the area of the course around Pantelleria. And, at 1400, Sandro Musu the skipper of Aziza (MLT) duly confirmed its arrival, advising, “we were thirteen miles south of Pantelleria when we were caught in a massive squall that came from nowhere. It was pouring with rain already, but the wind went from twenty knots to over forty, maybe more, in an instant. I was on the wheel and it knocked us right over for several minutes until we could get the sails down. Everyone is OK and we'll get to port to assess the damage, but we are without our mainsail so we are going to retire.” These conditions are in complete contrast to the previous 48 hours of calm, but are part of what makes the Rolex Middle Sea Race so challenging. Everyone says this area of the Med is unpredictable in October. Musu, who retired last year during the brutal first night, managed to find some humour in the situation, “the funniest point was when Matthew 'Pizzel' Fiorini had to come on deck in his boxer shorts to help clear the sails.” Gallows humour in the circumstances.

Shortly after, Richard Falk, skipper of Gyrate (GBR), confirmed the intensity of the thunderstorm that hit the fleet, when announcing their retirement, “at 1300 we were hit with winds in excess of 55 knots and struck by lightning. The winds came with virtually no warning and the damage to the mainsail is beyond our means to repair. We could continue, but have taken the difficult decision to retire.” Ivan Mellia and Windriven (MLT), called in to describe similar conditions. Windriven has sort shelter at Pantelleria to assess the extent of the damage caused by the storm. And whilst the weather produced storm has retired for the moment, so too has the Italian yacht Storm.

For those still racing, the night ahead looks to be a long wet one. The rain on the course has now reached Malta dampening the spirits after the elation of the morning. The long-awaited wind looks to be short on promise and whether anyone can prize overall victory from Alegre, which currently holds pole position on corrected time, remains to be seen. Looking at the forecast for the next twenty-four hours, anyone not passing Lampedusa tonight is in for a long slow trawl back to Malta.

Next boat to finish should be RAN (GBR). Seventy-seven yachts started the race. Three have finished and nine yachts have retired.

Elapsed Times of Finished Yachts

1. Alegre (GBR) 3 days 19 hours 20 minutes 16 seconds
2. Moneypenny (USA) 3 days 19 hours 55 minutes 52 seconds
3. Rosebud (USA) 4 days 3 hours 10 minutes 34 seconds

The Rolex Middle Sea Race final prize giving is at noon on 25th October.

George David's Rambler (USA) established the current Course Record of 47 hours 55 minutes and 3 seconds in 2007.

For more information about the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2008 including the entry list, position reports and results please visit www.rolexmiddlesearace.com

To receive daily reports and to download high-resolution images, copyright free for editorial purposes, register online at www.regattanews.com

For information about the Organisers, contact:

Royal Malta Yacht Club
T. +356 2133 3109
F. +356 2133 1131
E. info@rmyc.org
W. www.rolexmiddlesearace.com

International Press Information
Key Partners (KPMS)
Giles Pearman
Rolex Middle Sea Race Media Office
LOCAL M: +356 9952 7516
Press Office: +356 21320220
E: giles@regattanews.com

Key Partners (KPMS) Head Office
T: +41 32 724 28 29
F: +41 32 724 28 33
E: info@regattanews.com
www.regattanews.com
www.kpms.com