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 09:00 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 14:00, Sandro Musu the skipper of Aziza (MLT) duly confirmed its arrival.

"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 13:00 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.