The 41st edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race will begin in October 2020 showing the dedication, perseverance and spirit which has defined this famous international offshore race for the past five decades. We take you through the history of this iconic race where South Africans have also made their mark on the podiums over the years.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race came about as the result of a sailing rivalry between Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) members Alan Green and Jimmy White, two Englishmen residing in Malta, and Paul and John Ripard together with other Maltese members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC). Alan (later Secretary of RORC) and Jimmy approached the RMYC Committee and proposed a long course designed to offer an exciting race in windier autumn conditions rather than those prevailing in the Maltese summer.
The original suggestion was for a course that started in Malta and finished in Syracuse. In an inspired moment, that stemmed in part from the persuasive argument of Paul that it should be a race centred on the Maltese islands, it was agreed to not simply start the race in Malta but finish it there too. The race was now, essentially, a clockwise circumnavigation of Sicily including Lampedusa, Pantelleria and the Egadian and Eolian islands, and it would be slightly longer than the RORC’s own famous offshore event, the Fastnet Race.
Ted Turner (USA) – media mogul, philanthropist and founder of Turner Communications, (CNN) – has written that the Middle Sea Race “must be the most beautiful racecourse in the world. What other event has an active volcano as a mark of the course?”.
Since the first edition of the race in 1968, the Middle Sea Race has attracted many prestigious names in yachting. Amongst these, is the late Raul Gardini who won line honours in 1979 on Rumegal, and who spearheaded the 1992 Italian Challenge for the America’s Cup with Moro di Venezia. World-famous round the world race winners with a Rolex Middle Sea Race connection include Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Les Williams, both from the UK.
The Course Record
The course record was initially held by the San Francisco based, Robert McNeil on board his Maxi Turbo Sled Zephyrus IV with a record time of 64 hrs 49 mins 57 secs in 2000. Zephyrus IV is a Reichel-Pugh design. Since then various maxis such as Alfa Romeo, Nokia, Maximus and Morning Glory have all tried to break this course record, but the wind Gods have never played along. Even the VOR winner, ABN Amro tried.. but they all failed in 2006.
However, in 2007 George David’s Rambler demolished the course record established by Zephyrus IV. This record now still stands at 47 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.
The Race in History
The race was not held between 1983 and 1996 until the committee of the Royal Malta Yacht Club took a decision to re-instate the race in 1996.
In 2001, a new committee brought new ideas to the Middle Sea Race. Innovative marketing ideas were introduced and the search for a sponsor was initiated. In 2002, Rolex came on board as the title sponsor. Since 2002, the event has witnessed a new record number of entries every year, and has also seen amazing growth in the quality of entries. Although bigger boats regularly participate with new technological improvements such as code zeros, canting keels and forward canards, the course record remained unbeaten for 7 years.
In 2006, 68 yachts was on the start line, ranging from some of the largest and fastest racing monohulls on the planet, including Alfa Romeo, Morning Glory, ABN Amro 1 and Maximus, to some of the best sailed cruiser-racers around. The finish was a nail-biter, with Hasso Plattner’s Morning Glory taking pole position amongst the larger yachts, but having to wait two days until two of the smallest boats had arrived home before the victory could be confirmed. The double-handed crew of Shaun Murphy & Ric Searle on the J-105 Slingshot and the young crew on Lee Satariano’s J-109 Artie came close, but not quite close enough finishing third and second overall respectively just over 2 hours outside the winner’s time.
The record number of participants till 2006 stood at a staggering 68 entries.
In 2007 massive storms bashed through the fleet on the northern side of Sicily. Many boats retired during the first night out and were forced to take shelter in various ports along the Eastern shore of Sicily. Loki lost their rudder and she had to be abandoned. George David on board Rambler set a new course record of 1 day, 23 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.
2008 saw a new record number of entries. 78 boats started the race which was characterised by light winds at the start and thunderstorms during the second part of the race. Thierry Bouchard, onboard Spirit of Ad Hoc won on a Beneteau 40.7. He also won the ORC division, claiming the Boccale del Mediterraneao Trophy.
In 2009, Andres Soriano onboard Alegre visited Malta for the second time in a row and claimed overall handicap in IRC, thus claiming the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy. Line honours went to Mike Slade on board his maxi yacht Icap Leopard. 2009 will be remembered by a large number of IMA (International Maxi Owners Association) members, including Luna Rossa, Rosebud, DSK Pioneer Investments, Icap Leopard, Bella Mente, Alegre, Beau Gest, Ericsson 2 and Intermatica (Telefonica Black).
2010 saw Icap Leopard face Esimit Europa in the race for line honours with the multi European team finishing first in the calmer weather. Lucky, a modified TP52 from the US claimed IRC overall on corrected time.
The Esimit Europa team were to win line honours again in 2011. The Maltese boat Artie was the overall winner of the IRC category and the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy.
2012 was a record year with 82 entries. The Slovenian Maxi Esimit Europa II returned to claim line honours once again but the Rolex Middle Sea Trophy for first overall in IRC was won by a South African team led by owner Eddie de Villiers and skipper Mark Sadler on Hi Fidelity. The overall winner in ORC was Optimum 3 Aspida from Greece.
South Africans resident Kristina Plattner sailed Morning Glory to take line honours in 2013. The overall winner in IRC was Michele Galli with B2 while Johann Killinger on Emma won on ORC.
In 2014 Esimit Europa took line honours, while the Maltese J/122 boat Artie was crowned as the overall winner in IRC, taking the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy for the second time. A new record of 122 entries was established in this edition.
2015 was more interesting in the fact that the fleet was more varied, consisting of different boats from the big, professionally crewed boats to smaller yachts with Corinthian sailors, as well as two big multihulls, both from the United States. One of these was Lloyd Thornburg’s Phaedo3, which had only previously set a new world record in the Fastnet race, completing the race in 27 hours and 34 minutes, and claiming the multihull line honour trophy. The other multihull was Peter Aschenbrenner’s 63’ Trimaran Paradox.
2016 will be remembered as a race of multiple dimensions. The overall winner was Vincenzo Onorato’s Italian Cookson 50 Mascalzone Latino. George David’s Rambler 88 from the United States took monohull line honours for the second year in a row and Giovanni Soldini’s Multi70 Maserati won the multihull class, setting a new race record in this category. In the multihull class, all eyes were on the contest between Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70 Phaedo3 and Maserati. She had arrived in Malta with structural damage and could not use her full foiling package. Phaedo3 appeared to hold an advantage and confirmed this by taking the lead right from the start as Maserati took a more conservative approach exiting Grand Harbour. Phaedo3 appeared unbeatable, but a catastrophic error in navigation resulted in Phaedo3 being denied the honour of smashing their own record.
A breezy start to the race in 2017 was followed by a calm night but strong conditions were met once past the straits of Messina. Over half the fleet retired. Rambler 88 again took line honours for the third consecutive time. Bogatyr from Russia was the overall winner in the IRC category taking the Middle Sea Race Trophy. South African James Blakemore and Gerry Hegie led a South African team to victory on the Swan53 Music in first overall in the ORC category.
In 2018, a record-breaking fleet embarked on the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. 30 yachts representing 29 countries, uniting seasoned campaigners, intrepid first-timers and those drawn back to Malta after decade long absences. Once again Rambler 88 took line honours whilst Géry Trentesaux’s Courrier Recommandé etched her name on the Rolex Middle Sea Race trophy.
Maltese yacht Elusive 2, skippered by the Podesta family, and the American Maxi Rambler 88, owned by the record-breaking George David, took the main plaudits in the 2019 race, a race that required steadfast persistence and patience in conditions that veered from the mentally sapping benign to the physically punishing malign.
The 2020 Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday 17th October.
[Watch: Rolex Middle Sea Race]
