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Recent
yachting
and boating events covered by Outimage Publications |
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| Rolex Fastnet Race
2009. |
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| The Club Marine
Brisbame to Keppel Yacht Race 2009. |
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| Audi Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race 2009. |
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Audi Winter Series
Sydney Harbour 2009. |
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RORC Caribbean
600
Antigua
February 23-25, 2009.
Photographs by
Carlo Borlenghi
and Stefano Gattini. |
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Volvo Ocean Race
2008-2009. |
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61st Brisbane to Gladstone
Yacht Race 2009. |
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Audi Sydney
Offshore Newcastle
Yacht Race 2009. |
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XXV Primo Cup
Trophée Credit Suisse
Montecarlo, Feb 5-15, 2009.
Photographs by
Carlo Borlenghi. |
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Louis Vuitton
Pacific Series
Auckland New Zealand,
Jan 24 - Feb 14, 2009.
Photographs by
Stefano Gattini. |
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| The 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race |
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| The 2008 SOLAS Big Boat Challenge 2008. |
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| The 2008
Rolex Trophy One Design Series |
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Sydney
Short Ocean
Racing Championship
November 29-30, 2008. |
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Rolex Middle Sea Race 2008 Valletta, Malta.
October 18 - 25, 2008. |
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Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy
September 1 - 6, 2008. |
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Sydney Gold Coast
Yacht Race 2008. |
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Giraglia
Rolex Cup 2008
Saint-Tropez France
Genova Italy
June 8 - 14, 2008. |
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| Winners emerge |
| By Rolex Media Team. |
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Photos By
Kurt Arrigo for Rolex.
Edited by Peter Andrews. |
October 21, 2009. |
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Without doubt,
the most productive finish line watch duty at this year’s
Rolex Middle Sea Race was from 11.30 to 15.30 on Wednesday.
Royal Malta Yacht Club watchkeepers, Clive and Mary Chipperfield
witnessed eleven yachts complete the course. This is equal
to the number that arrived over the whole of Monday and Tuesday.
The total number of finishers by 17.30 was thirty-seven,
with one more through the Comino Channel and on the home
stretch. It was an exciting day which saw Andy Soriano’s Alegre (GBR)
confirmed as Overall Winner of the 30th Rolex Middle Sea
Race; and David Franks’ Strait Dealer, skippered
by David Anastasi, taking the trophy for first Maltese
boat home on the water. |
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Andres Soriano and his crew on Alegre,
after winning overall in the 30th Rolex Middle
Sea Race.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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A number of
lass trophies were also decided. But with eight yachts still
to finish, there are one or two still in the balance.
Malta woke to a windless, clear sky with some mild humidity.
A nice start to the day for a tourist, but not a good situation
if you are clawing your way along the northern coast of
Malta, rather hoping to wrap a class victory with a fast
finish.
Klaus Diederich’s and Grant Gordon’s Swan 45 Fever (GBR)
found itself in just this situation at sunrise this morning.
The international crew including notables such as Andy
Beadsworth, Gary Barron, Wouter Verbraak and Tony Rey really,
had to work to squeeze their steed over the line. In the
end, the effort was not enough and currently Arthur Podesta
and Elusive II Medbank (MLT) sit atop Class 3. |
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Arthur Podesta's Beneteau First
45, Elusive 2 Medbank arriving at their
final destination of Marsamxett Harbour, during
the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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Co-owners Gordon
and Diederich had enjoyed the race, judging by Diederich’s
remarks.
"The reach up to Messina was a fantastic experience. We
were absolutely flying, touching 22 knots. It is the fastest
we have ever been in the boat."
Gordon fully agreed with Diederich and was just as happy
with the race. "There are few Swan 45s that venture
offshore but we love it. You get a totally different atmosphere
to short course racing. The scenery for this race is also
spectacular which adds to a great experience." |
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Arthur Podesta's Beneteau First
45, Eluisve 2 Medbank and Edward Broadway's
Farr 40, Hooligan VI, entering Marsamxett
Harbour, during the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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After rounding
Stromboli, Fever had encountered severe weather conditions
as Olympic medalist and America’s Cup skipper, Andy
Beadsworth explained.
"The sail plan of a Swan 45 is not really designed for offshore
racing, let alone 40 knots of wind, and we were forced to drop
the main and deploy the storm try-sail. During the race, we used
every sail on the boat, except for the storm jib."
"We built up a significant lead around the top of Sicily," said
Volvo Ocean Race navigator, Wouter Verbraak. "But we completely
ran out of breeze at Pantelleria and could only watch as the
competition came from behind. However, after passing Lampedusa,
we made a move to the left of the course and probably made a
gain bigger than the loss at Pantelleria." |
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Grant Gordon and Klaus Diederichs'
Swan 45, Fever, at Capo San Vito earlier
in the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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The big noise
of the morning after the name of Alegre was stamped
on the Rolex Middle Sea Race trophy, was the arrival of Strait
Dealer. It was another epic adventure, that ended with
a patience-sapping finish.
One that was worth it though for owner David Franks, who
was probably on his last lap of the racecourse. Franks
was delighted to be back and to secure the prize of first
Maltese boat home on the water, despite enduring some difficult
times.
"We had a good crew and I enjoyed the race very much. There
were some very tough points, but we didn’t break too many
things and we didn’t lose too many things. We got tangled
up in a lobster pot and went through an ice storm. I’ve
never had such a cold Rolex Middle Sea Race and this is my seventh." |
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Franco Ferluga's Comet 45s, Amplifon
Wanderlust, arriving at their final destination
of Marsamxett Harbour, during the Rolex Middle
Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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"The crew
held up very well, David Anastasi had a lot on and did extremely
well. Strait Dealer is a very wet boat, but everyone
just got on with it," continued Franks, who finished
with some praise for the organisers.
"This is a most fantastic race. It is so well organised,
it’s so exciting, so many great boats come along, it’s
very competitive and to top it all there’s a good social
programme before and after."
Skipper David Anastasi was pleased too, but admitted that
their ambition had been to win first Maltese boat on handicap. Strait
Dealer does better downwind than upwind, and with
more of her race being into wind, she was always going
to be hard pressed to secure that prize. And tonight, that
prize went to Artie.
"We had a really good race up to Messina in conditions that
the boat loves. From then on the wind was on the nose, which
is very hard for us. Everything went well, the crew worked well
together including the younger ones such as Sean Borg, Darren
Cauchi and Alan Tabone." |
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Lee Satariano and Sebastian Ripard's
J 109, Artie, arriving at their final
destination of Marsamxett Harbour, during the Rolex
Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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Anastasi admitted
that the biggest problem had been with eating, where even
freezer-dried food needs to have just boiled water added
to it.
"The conditions were so bad, and it was practically impossible
to cook since there was just too much going on below."
Tactician, Nigel King, a veteran of the 2001 Volvo Ocean
Race was also relieved to be back in one piece. "It
was probably the toughest Rolex Middle Sea Race I’ve
ever done. Quite a lot of storms came through, with squally
showers. The guys had to work really hard to keep the boat
moving. The most difficult bit was once we got round Stromboli.
There were lots of squalls and showers and storms coming
through. Lots of sail changes and fighting the occasional
fire when they came a bit quicker that you expected. It
was very hard at night because there was complete loss
of visibility and it was much harder seeing the wind that’s
coming. You’ve got to be a bit more pre-emptive in
getting things done. The Mediterranean’s famous for
days like that though." |
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Jonas Diamantino's ILC 40, Comanche
Raider II Gasan Mamo off Capo San Vito,
during the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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Other finishers
today included Piet Vroon’s Tonnerre de Breskens
III (NED), Sonke Stein’s BOV Kerisma (GER),
Jonas Diamantino’s Comanche Raider Gasan Mamo (MLT),
Edward Broadway’s Hooligan VI (GBR), Peter
Hopp’s and Hilary Cook’s Nisida (GBR),
Fillippo Lancelotti’s Sciara (ITA) and, of
course, Elusive II.
Elusive II crossed the line at midday, all but four days after
starting the race in Grand Harbour. Her arrival was smoother than the early
birds. The wind had built over the day and whilst the leg from Comino to
the finish was a beat, at least there was something to power the boats.
Podesta has now completed thirty races. An unparalleled record and one
unlikely to be matched for many years. His enthusiasm for the race continues
to shine through, even when he has been in a battle.
"This was as tough as the 2007 race, though perhaps not as treacherous.
We hit our first major squall after Capo Passero and suffered an enormous broach.
We recovered. eventually and continued pushing forward. We had another enormous
squall at Stromboli and then, all the way to Palermo, we had squalls every two
or three hours. That made the race most tiring."
As reported by Maya Podesta during the race, much of the problem weather
occurred during the pitch black of a moonless night and Podesta senior
confirmed the added peril of hail and temperature loss referred to earlier
by Franks. A couple of hours after the finish and a good meal later, Podesta
laughingly confirmed that he would be returning next year. |
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David Latham's Pronavia 38, Seawolf
of Southhampton, seen here earlier racing
in the 15 nautical-mile warm-up race ahead of
the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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Five hours after Elusive,
we saw the tightest finish to date as four yachts entered
Marsamxett Harbour within a few minutes of each other. Lee
Satariano’s Artie (MLT) led the charge, followed
three minutes later by Sandro Musu’s Aziza (MLT)
and Antonio Fava’s Velado (ITA), separated
by half a tack and five-seconds.
Its about as exciting as it gets, after 606 nautical miles
of racing. Sneaking in just before press time to grab their
piece of the limelight was Seawolf of Southampton (GB).
Eight yachts remain on the racetrack including the two
double-handers who appear to be match-racing their way
to Lampedusa and will probably continue to do so to the
finish.
There were 69 yachts representing twenty nations who started
the race. George David’s Rambler (USA) established
the current Course Record of 47 hours 55 minutes and 3
seconds in 2007. The prize giving will be held at the Sacra
Infermeria, Valletta, on Saturday, 24 October.
For more information about the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009
including the entry list, position reports and results
please visit www.rolexmiddlesearace.com. |
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| Outimage, Rolex
and Carlo Borlenghi © 2009 |
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| Winning is not everything. |
| By Rolex Media Team. |
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Photo By Kurt Arrigo for Rolex.
Edited by Peter Andrews. |
October 23, 2009. |
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Two admirable feats of seamanship ended in Marsamxett Harbour in the early hours of Friday morning. The last two yachts in the 30th Rolex Middle Sea Race finally completed the 606 nautical mile course.
Double-handed, both crews have faced the adversity of a race that twenty-three fully crewed yachts were unable to cope with. The third two-handed yacht that started the race last Saturday retired on the second day.
The tales from the two yachts are similar. Both crews know what they have achieved and both walk away with a sense of pride. One tale ended more happily than the other, but the accomplishment outweighs any disappointment.
The two yachts concerned could not be at further ends of the competitive spectrum. Cymba was crewed by Isidoro Santececca and Francesco Piva aged 51 and 41 respectively. They have raced together for a number of years, including three previous Rolex Middle Sea Races, winning the double-handed division in 2002.
Steven and Michael Clough, the co-skippers of Cambo III, are cousins aged 63 and 60. Neither has extensive experience of short-handed racing and none at all over the course of this race. |
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Michael Clough's Hunter Mystery 35 Cambo III, during the 15 nautical-mile warm-up race, ahead of the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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Santececca and Piva were racing a Sunfast 3200, a modern yacht design suited to sailing with limited crew. The Cloughs were on board a Hunter Mystery 35, described in the yachting press as having "an air of restrained elegance that suggests docile manners." Cambo III is pretty, with classic lines. She is two-feet longer
overall than Cymba, but four feet shorter on the waterline. She is also 2,500kg heavier. Not exactly a racing yacht then.
Short-handed racing is as much about the preparation and the mind-set, as it is about the execution. Ahead of the race, both crews exhibited a quiet confidence, a willingness to accept whatever was to be thrown at them and simply to get on with it. A trait particularly appealing to the Maltese.
Santececca and Piva set off with thoughts in mind of competing in the 2011 Transquadra, a 2,700 nautical mile from Madeira to Martinique. The Cloughs just hoped to get around the track and preferably inside the time limit. The weather and sea conditions faced by the smaller yachts have been well described already. That a third of the fleet failed to complete the race, most retiring within the first thirty-six hours. This puts the achievement of these Italian and British crews into better perspective.
For much of the race the two yachts were locked together, fighting out a duel in traditional style, ‘mano-a-mano’. Cymba led at Capo Passero by 25-minutes. Cambo III had reversed that deficit by Messina and extended their on-water lead by Stromboli to over an hour. At Favignana the split was back to 25-minutes in favour of the British. Neither crew was aware that by this stage their contest within the context of the Rolex Middle Sea Race had effectively ended, as the crew of Cymba explained.
"The beat was very tough between Stromboli and Favignana. This boat is better at downwind sailing and reaching rather than upwind. We were having real problems with the mainsail. Some of the race we had to do with three reefs and part of the race without a main at all. We tried to repair it, but this was very dfficult."
Cymba’s mistake, which seems entirely understandable given the conditions and their situation, was to pass inside one of the Aeolian Islands in breach of the Sailing Instructions. "We made a genuine mistake and have officially retired because we did not want to be disqualified." The crew walk away heads held high.
"For us, it makes no difference. It was important to finish the race. It has not left a bitter taste in our mouths. We are here, that is important, and we feel like winners."
The Cloughs indicated that they had almost made the same error. Seeking some shelter in the lee of Alicudi looked to be a good option until a last-minute check of the course reminded them of the correct route.
Racing on, oblivious of the fatal error by Cymba, the two crews arrived at Pantelleria 10-minutes apart. The Italians back in the lead. Both Cambo III’s autopilots chose this moment to pack up adding further stress to her crew’s situation.
"We were struggling. The tiller is heavy and it is really heavy in a lot of wind. Once past Pantelleria I kept her as close to the wind as I could to keep a lot of weight off and ease the main to try and balance her as best I could, but I was exhausted, absolutely exhausted." Steve took over and did the night shift allowing Michael to recover.
By Lampedusa, the Cloughs had seemingly worked a miracle, had overcome their issue with the autopilots and found themselves ahead by over an hour again.
"We thought Cymba would be well ahead of us because she had been going faster when we last saw her," said Michael. "By chance I checked the fleet tracker and saw we were ahead. We didn’t believe it possible. Steve had done a magnificent job overnight."
Sadly the elation was short-lived. Just after midnight and early in the morning on 22 October, the Cloughs reached their lowest point in the race, as Steven explained.
"There was a heck of a bang, it was night time and it took us a little while to work out that one of the jumpers [supporting the mast] had gone. We thought through the options and decided continue as gently as we could. We had time and were determined to finish this race. We think we were fortunate that we were never on starboard tack."
"There were only two of us, we were hand-steering and the rig was in trouble. Once we dismissed the idea of retiring we started thinking about the right sail plan. We triple reefed the main and put up the storm jib for a while."
Michael explained how they believed if they could make sure that pressure on the mast was limited to below the lower set of spreaders the mast would survive. Keeping boat speed beneath 4-knots would seem an anathema to a racing crew, but this was about
protecting the rig and completing the remaining 100 nautical miles of the race. The de-powering reached the ultimate on the last stretch from Comino Channel.
"Bare poles and over five knots of boat speed for over three-quarters of an hour. I’ve never done that before!" laughed Steven. "The key to making it was reigning ourselves in. We were both in race mode by now and had to keep telling each other to back off."
Both crews were relieved to reach the finish. Unsurprisingly, Cymba did so twelve hours ahead of Cambo III. It was a cracking race between the pair, certainly until Lampedusa, and one that has enthralled those watching on shore as much as the battles towards the front of the fleet.
Steven Clough who is facing tougher battles in his life summed up the adventure. "It’s been emotional, it’s been tough, but it’s been rewarding."
Tomorrow the Cloughs will be awarded the trophy as winners of the double-handed division. That there was some luck on their part and some misfortune on the part of others is true. Unquestionably though, they are worthy.
Sixtynine yachts representing twenty nations started the race. George David’s Rambler (USA) established the current Course Record of 47 hours 55 minutes and 3 seconds in 2007. The prize giving will be held at the Sacra Infermeria, in the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, on Saturday, 24 October.
For more information about the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009 including the entry list, position reports and results please visit www.rolexmiddlesearace.com. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2009 |
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| Previous Articles. |
|
| Wednesday 10:00 CEST update - Oct 21, 2009. |
| Teamwork beats the odds - Oct 20, 2009. |
| Tuesday 10:00 CEST update - Oct 20, 2009. |
| Course record eludes line honours winner - Oct 18, 2009. |
| Monday 10:00 CEST update - Oct 19, 2009. |
| Record threat requires a strong hand - Sunday Oct 18, 2009. |
| Rolex Middle Sea Race - Sunday 10:00 CEST Update - Oct 18, 2009. |
| Rolex Middle Sea Race - Grandstand start - Oct 17, 2009. |
| Rolex Middle Sea Race - Preparation, preparation, preparation - Oct 16, 2009. |
| Rolex Middle Sea Race - Two's company - Oct 15 2009. |
| Rolex Middle Sea Race - Weather makes its mark - Oct 14, 2009. |
| All change for Rolex Middle Sea Race - Oct 13, 2009. |
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| Scuttlebutt Europe Daily News Feed. |
| Produced by boats.com Europe, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinion, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors. |
| To the Scuttlebutt Europe Daily News Feed Page. |
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